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Hymn 6: Indra
and Maruts
Mantrās four
through seven are addressed to Maruts or Maruts and Indra
together. The rest of the mantrās are dedicated to Indra.
In (1.6.5) is the first mention of the myth of the great battle
between the Gods and the titans like Vŗtra, Vala etc. See also
the note at the end.
MANTRA
(1.6.1) : ETERNALS YOKE INDRA'S CAR
They (the
eternals) yoke the broad and shining (car),
They who stand
around as it moves;
The luminous
stations gleam in heaven.
yuňjanti
bradhnam aruşham
yoke, great,
shining,
charantam pari tasthuşhaĥ;
moving,
all-around, standing,
rochante
rochanā divi.
gleam,
shining, lights or stations in heaven.
Details:
The car
symbolizes the movement of the Divine energy which moves to the
human to do his work or moves towards the hostile like Titans to
vanquish them.
The mantra itself does not say who yokes the car. It is to be
understood to be the eternals. Again the word "car' is to be
understood from the words like yoke, moving etc. Note that the (Indra's)
car signifies a divine movement, both broad and bright for his
advent in man. The next mantra deals with the horses yoked to
the car, horses symbolising the special powers of insight. The
third mantra says that Indra is manifest. The details of the
advent is described in the third mantra (1.6.3).
MANTRA
(1.6.2):
THEY YOKE THE STEEDS (INNER SIGHT )
They (the
eternals) yoke Indra's charming horses,
Deep red,
vehement, carrying the God, and
Stand on
either side of the chariot.
yuňjanti
asya kāmyā
they yoke,
his, charming,
harī
vipakşhasā rathe;
horses, on
either side of, chariot,
shoņā
dhŗşhņū
nŗvāhasā.
deep red,
vehement, carrying the God or power.
Details:
harī:
the horses of Indra; they are not the four legged animals
but denote special powers of the inner sight, the divine
manifestations of knowledge which are intimately connected to
the word, Brahma, in the Veda. This viewpoint is
explicitly mentioned in RV itself in several mantrās. RV
(2.11.6) has the phrase harī sūryasya ketu, we laud thy
steeds, intuitive rays of Sūrya. Again hymn RV (1.84.3)
states 'the steeds are yoked by the word; RV (3.35.4) states
"these friendly horses that are yoked by word, I harness by
word'; RV (8.2.27) states, "bring the steeds yoked by the word'.
As in the
earlier mantra, "they' stand for the eternals of shining wisdom
residing in heaven who can yoke these horses, not physically,
but by the power of the word.
MANTRA (1.6.3): GIVES KNOWLEDGE
O strong one,
manifesting knowledge for one who has it not,
And form, for
one who has no form,
You are born
with the rays of the dawn of knowledge.
ketum
kŗņvan aketave
knowledge,
creating, one without knowledge,
pesho
maryā apeshase;
form, O strong
one, one without form,
sam
uşhadbhir ajāyathāĥ.
gathering,
with the rays of the dawn of knowledge, are born.
Details:
ketu
means ray or banner in the external sense, but in the spiritual
sense, it signifies the eye of knowledge born of inner
understanding. Indra is the lord of divine mind. He gives the
vision of the supraphysical to the rişhi, thus
manifesting knowledge for the rişhi who earlier had no
knowledge, aketu. Rayless or bannerless does not make
much sense for aketu in this mantra or others.
The second foot
of the mantra clearly states that Indra manifests himself or
Indra is born in the sacrificer with the subtle body, rūpa,
made up of the rays of the divine illumination. Indra manifests
the subtle body in the seeker. The subtle body can sustain the
divine revelation and the rişhi can feel Indra's
vision continuously.
uşhadbhiĥ:
uşha is the divine Dawn, not merely the physical; her
rays are the illuminations of the dawning divine consciousness.
This mantra
with its straight forward spiritual meaning can be explained in
the context of nature-god theory, only with great difficulty.
For instance, Wilson states, "Indra is here again identified
with the sun whose morning rays may be said to reanimate those
who have been dead in sleep through the night'. The rişhis
with their fund of superior spiritual knowledge are portrayed by
these indologists as simpletons and their sublime poetry is
rendered pedestrian or downright silly.
The following
four mantras deal with Maruts.
Maruts are the
powers of will and thought characterized by fierce speed and
brilliance. They are behind all thought and speech as its
impellers and they battle towards the Light, Truth and Bliss of
the supreme consciousness (Sri Aurobindo). (31.1) discussed in
volume 1 declares that Maruts are seers acting by knowledge and
they are born as a result of the great deeds of Agni. We should
not confuse them with the purāņic deities of the same name.
The moderns
translate Maruts as storm-Gods. The adjective storm is to be
understood in the psychological sense. Their fury against the
titans in the symbolic battle is one of their characteristics.
MANTRA
(1.6.4):
BIRTH OF MARUTS
According to
their own self- law,
The Maruts
came to birth later,
Upholding the
sacrificial name.
ādaha
svadhām anu
later, their
own self-law, according to,
punar
garbhatvam erire;
again, birth
,came,
dadhānā
nāma yajňiyam.
upholding,
name, sacrificial.
Details:
The rişhi
seeks the help of Maruts, after the birth of Indra and hence
they are born, i.e., they manifest their power in the rişhi.
Note the birth of Maruts in man is the second birth of Maruts,
their first birth being in the collective creation of all Gods.
svadhām:
In the Veda, svadhā denotes the law that promotes each
existence to uphold its own nature. All the varieties of
existence, physical or otherwise, put forth their action
according to their own self- law.
nāma:
Name; it denotes the personality of the Godhead, The godhead
responds when called by that name in the yajňa. It is
repeated both as sacred and secret, because its power is not
revealed to anyone arbitrarily.
MANTRA
(1.6.5): Action of Maruts
The breakers
of strong places
Who carry you
to the (massive) caves aided you
In finding the
(hidden) knowledge, O Indra.
vīļuchid
ārujatnubhiĥ
strong, breakers,
guhā
chid indra vahnibhiĥ;
cave, .,
Indra, carriers,
avinda usriyā anu.
has obtained,
rays of knowledge or cows, following.
Details:
usriyaĥ:
usraĥ,
rays derived from the Vaşhţi, in the sense of lustre.
Another, more popular, meaning is cows. In the Veda, cow is a
symbol for rays of knowledge.
arujatnuhbhiĥ:
the breakers; the Gods Maruts break the strong places, referred
have as vīļūĥ.
vīļūĥ:
strong; refers to the strong places or parvata, the hill
which symbolizes the consciousness completely submerged in
matter, the so called material inconscient.
guhā:
cave.
Here is the
first mention of the symbolic battle between Indra and the other
Gods and helpers versus the titans headed by Vŗtra and
others. This myth has been mentioned in numerous mantrās of the
Rig Veda. This mantra deals only with one aspect of the battle.
Consciousness in the Veda is described using two different sets
of images. One is that of a river or a stream signifying a
movement of consciousness. It is also described as a ray,
symbolised by the cow. Each ray or cow contains the unique power
of the divine.
A common
spiritual experience is one of consciousness trapped by the
matter making its manifestation into other realms like life,
mind difficult. This trapping of the consciousness in matter is
done by adverse forces represented by demons like Vŗtra and this
act is symbolically represented as the cows or rays being
imprisoned in the cave signifying the inconscience. Indra
represents the divine mind and one of his chief tasks is break
the trap and allow the rays to fully manifest in the realms of
life and mind in every individual. This task is physically
symbolized by the breaking of the cave and releasing of the cows
or the rays of conscience. Maruts help Indra in literally
carrying him to the cave and help him battle the adversaries
like Vŗtra, Vala, break the cave and release the
cows. For a detailed description of battle we refer to sūktās
1.32 and 1.33.
MANTRA
(1.6.6): SEEKERS AND SEERS LAUD INDRA
The seekers of
the Gods chant in front of Indra
Getting the
inner wealth
Even as the
seers realised the great God perceivable by the divine word,
shruti.
devayanto yathā matim achchhā
seekers of
Godhead, even so, Indra, infront,
vidad
vasum
giraĥ;
finding, the
riches, chanters,
mahām anūşhata shrutam.
great, praise,
perceivable by divine word,
Details:
devayanta:
seekers of the God; they are not the Maruts, as some imply.
MANTRA
(1.6.7): LAUD TO THE MARUTS
O Maruts, you
are seen with the fearless Indra,
With whom you
collaborate well;
Rapturous are
you both and equal in splendour.
indreņa
sam hi dŗkşhase
with Indra,
well, ., seen,
samjagmāno abibhyuşhā;
appropriate
companion fearless,
mandū
samāna varchasā.
rapturous,
equal, splendour.
Details:
Here both
Indra and Maruts are lauded together. Laud of Maruts
is appropriate in view of the help received from them in
breaking the mountain. Maruts, deities of the vital domain, work
closely with Indra in his forceful actions dealing with mind.
MANTRA
(1.6.8): THE SEEKER GETS A SPECIAL
LIGHT
Enveloped with
light all-around
The seeker
forcefully chants the riks to Indra
Along with the
desirable and faultless Maruts.
anavadyair abhidyubhiĥ makhaĥ
faultless,
light which is all round, sacrificer,
sahasvad
archati;
forcefully,
utters the rik,
gaņair
indrasya kāmyaiĥ.
hosts of
Maruts, by Indra, desirable.
Details:
By the sight
of Indra with the Maruts, the seer or yajamāna receives a
special light and he utters a rik in praise as part of
yajňa.
abhidyubhiĥ:
the light, signified by dyu is spread around the
sacrificer.
MANTRA
(1.6.9): PRAYER FOR INDRA'S
PRESENCE EVERYWHERE
O all-pervading
come to us from heaven (with its glories)
Or from the
luminous world beyond (with its glories),
And make our
words of praise fulfilled,
ataĥ
parijman āgahi divo
hence, O all
pervading, come, heaven,
vā
rochanād adhi;
or, luminous
world, higher,
sam asmin
ŗňjate giraĥ.
., in this (my
sacrifice), make them accomplished, words of praise.
Details:
Indra is all
pervading and is present in all the stations. Indra's
advent with the glories of each station promotes the divine's
advent in the inner being of the seer.
MANTRA
(1.6.10): Praise of Indra
For obtaining
the enjoyable felicities, we desire Indra to manifest in us
Either from
heaven or earth,
Or from the
great midworld.
ito vā
sātim īmahe
here, or,
felicities to be attained, (we) desire,
divo vā
pārthivād adhi;
heaven, or,
earth, from,
indram
maho vā rajasaĥ.
Indra, great,
or, midworld.
Note:
Sri Kapāli
Sāstry demonstrates the style of the rişhis in his
commentary on this hymn.Each sūkta reveals much and also
conceals much. A teacher explained the concealed part orally to
his disciples in the Vedic days.
In the first
rik, the seer says “They yoke''. Who are the standers? What
is moving? In the third rik, what is the connection
between the birth of Indra and the "rays of knowledge'?
What is the
"birth' in the 4th rik?
In the fifth,
what is the connection between the "breakers', "carriers' and
the gain of cows by Indra? In the sixth who are these
"desirous of God' who adored the great one?
In the seventh
who is addressed as, “seen along with Indra', "of like
spleandour'. In the eighth rik, who are the hosts dear to
Indra? In the ninth, who is invited "who goes
everywhere'? Only in the tenth verse, it is explicitly stated
that we desire Indra.
The answers to
all these questions has been guarded intentionally by the seer.
Without deep meditation and tapas, it is not easy to
arrive at the correct answers. Hints have been scattered here
and there in the riks, covertly or overtly. Ancient works
like bŗhat devata or anukramaņika were begun to
give the meaning. Even among ancients, there is difference of
opinion. The great time lag between the ages of the seers of the
mantrās and the later authors of the aphorisms of srauta
and kalpa is the main cause of controversy.
In the
anukramaņika, the verses 1,2,3 and 10 are to Indra, verses
4,6,8,9 Maruts and verses 5 and 7 to both. As explained
in this book, mantrās four through seven are to Maruts or Maruts
and Indra together. The rest are to Indra. |
