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Hymn 9:
Acceptance of lauds, descent and ascent
Rişhi:
Madhuchchhandas
Vaishvāmitraĥ
MANTRA
(1.9.1): SOMA - LIMBED GODS
Come, Indra,
be delighted with the foods and
With all the
Soma – limbed Gods present here;
Overcome the
foes with your strength.
indrehi
matsyandhaso
Indra come, to
be delighted,
vishvebhiĥ somaparvabhiĥ;
foods, all
Soma-limbed Gods,
mahān
abhişhţiĥ ojasā.
mighty,
overcome (the foes), with (your) strength.
Details:
somaparvabhiĥ:
Literally those whose limbs are full of Soma, the Delight of
Existence, namely the Gods. parva is limb.
MANTRA
(1.9.2): SOMA, CAPABLE OF GOOD ACTION
Pour the
purified and delightful Soma
To Indra, the
cause of delight and
The doer of
all actions; the Soma also impels all good actions.
emenam
sŗjatā sute
this, release,
Soma that is purified,
mandim
indrāya mandine;
delightful,
for Indra, the cause of delight,
chakrim
vishvāni chakraye,
capable of
good action, all, actions.
Details:
This verse is
addressed to the colleagues of the rişhi. Both mandim
and chakrim are adjectives of Soma. Soma, the
essence of Delight, is also the cause of good action. In Vedās,
the Delight is said to be the cause of the manifestation of all
universes, both subtle and gross. By offering the purified Soma
to Indra, the sacrificer allows Indra to make him ascend to the
higher levels in his inner being.
All actions are
done by Indra, using the human aspirants as instruments. This
idea is the forerunner of the idea in Karma-yoga.
emenam: a +
im + enam,
a goes with sŗjatā, to mean release.
MANTRA
(1.9.3): GLADDENING SAMA CHANTS
O fair of face, be delighted with these felicitous
Sāma chants, O
seer of all;
Come to these
yajňas along with the Gods.
matsvā
sushipra mandibhiĥ
be delighted, fair of face, with felicitous,
stomebhiĥ vishvacharşhaņe;
stoma
chants, all-seer (Indra),
sacha
eşhu savaneşhu ā.
along with, in
these, to the yajňa, come.
Details:
Note that for the
seers of the RV, the primary mode of contacting the Gods is the
laud or recitation. The chants gladden Indra and other Gods and
they manifest themselves in the inner being of the reciter along
with their powers of knowledge, work, etc.
MANTRA
(1.9.4): THREE STEPS IN THE CHANTS
I have created
the chants for you, O Indra,
Which went
upwards to you;
You have
accepted them, O showerer and protector.
asŗgram
indra te giraĥ
created,
Indra, to you, chants,
prati
tvām ut ahāsata;
towards, you, upwards, went,
ajoşhā
vŗşhabham patim.
(you) have
accepted, showerer, protector.
Details:
Note the three
steps. The seer creates the chants, they seek Indra and he
accepts them. The idea of the chants seeking Indra occurs in
many other places in RV such as (3.39.1), "The thought
expressing itself from the heart, formed into the Stoma,
goes towards Indra, its Lord.'
Another way of
interpreting the three steps is in (1.10.9).
The word upwards
(or down) is used in the psychological sense. The creation is
said to be in seven planes; the lowest plane, the earth, is
gross, being made of matter. Going to the higher plane means
taking our inner being to the higher realms of this ascending
ladder. Once we reach a certain plane, we are endowed with the
properties of that plane. There is a suggestion of going from
one psychic centre or chakra to the higher one, common in
many yogic methods.
MANTRA
(1.9.5): DESCENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Indra, impel
toward us
Your varied
and superb wealth,
Pervasive and
intense.
sam
chodaya chitram arvāk
well, impel,
varied, towards us,
rādha
indra vareņyam;
wealth, Indra,
best,
asatit
te vibhu prabhu.
it is indeed,
yours, spread out pervasive, intense.
Details:
Note that the
wealth rādhaĥ is not merely material, like cows. It is
both supreme and also pervades everywhere. The wealth cannot be
obtained unless Indra himself impels the wealth towards the seer
or the yajamāna. The descent of wealth is described in
later literature, especially tāntrik, as descent of
consciousness (sudhā - sarābhi - varşhiņi, showerer of
torrents of nectar, Lalita Sahasra Nāma, 39). Further,
the descent does not take place all at once; it occurs in
several steps.
MANTRA
(1.9.6): ASCENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Impel us well
to the wealth,
Rapid in
movement and celebrated,
O many -
lustred Indra.
asmān su
tatra chodaya
us,
excellently, there, impel,
indra
rāye rabhasvataĥ;
Indra, wealth,
fast in speed;
tuvi
dhyumna yashasvataĥ.
many,
lustered, celebrated.
Details:
The two
adjectives "rapid in movement' and "celebrated' refer to the
"wealth' and not to asmān, us, as referred to by several
commentators. The correctness of this assignment is clear from
the next mantra also.
In the earlier
mantra the prayer was to impel the wealth towards us. In this
mantra the seer prays that he may be impelled towards the
supreme wealth located in the high planes of svar, i.e.,
may the seer ascend towards the high regions of his inner being.
This ascent will not happen unless Indra impels the rişhi
to move upwards.
Thus, both in
the descent of consciousness and the ascent of consciousness,
Indra's help is necessary. Note again that the wealth has
the capacity for rapid movement. It is not merely static peace,
but retains its celestial character even in movement which gets
reflected in the outward dynamic actions of the seer.
The next mantra
also deals with this process of ascent and descent.
Some may say,
"What is the need for the distinction between ascent and
descent? The final result is that we should be united with the
wealth.' Sri Aurobindo has answered this question in great
detail. The ascent and descent are two completely different
processes and they involve different strategies for attainment.
The first step is the aspiration of man towards the higher goal.
This aspiration is typified by the God Agni, who is active even
when the outward being does not seem to care about any of the
so-called spiritual matters. When the fire of aspiration burns
owing to the spiritual practices, Agni himself becomes the
leader and leads the jīva, the inner being, towards the
higher being. Then he impels the jīva, the inner
being of man, to be in a mode of surrender, often termed
namobhiĥin the Veda, and prays for the descent of the higher
consciousness so that every part of the being of man can be
divinised.
MANTRA
(1.9.7): UNIVERSAL LIFE IN THE INDIVIDUAL
O Indra, join
us to the luminous and opulent wealth,
The extensive
and mighty sound of divine inspiration
And the
undecaying life of all.
sam
gomat indra vājavat
., full of
knowledge-rays, Indra, opulent,
asme
pŗthu shravo bŗhat;
us, large or
extended, hearing or sound, vast;
vishvāyu
dhehi akşhitam.
life of all,
join, undecaying.
Details:
The seer prays
that vishvāyuĥ, Universal Life, may be established in
him. This phrase and its variants occur more than twenty-five
times in the Rig-Veda Samhita. This universal life is
characterised by continuous divine inspiration. No community can
function successfully unless each member has this force in him,
at least to some extent. The ideal of human society is well
described in the last hymn of RV (10.191).
sam + dhehi:
join.
MANTRA
(1.9.8): LIGHT ENJOYABLE BY MANY
O Indra,
manifest in us the power capable of hearing (the divine sound),
The light
enjoyable by thousands
And the
fast-moving divine impulsions.
asme
dhehi shravo bŗhat
to us,
establish, hearing, vast,
dyumnam
sahasra sātamam;
light,
thousands, enjoyed by,
indra tā
rathinīĥişhaĥ.
Indra, those,
fast-moving, impulsions.
Details:
rathinīĥ
işhaĥ:
fast-moving impulsions; ratha, chariot indicates the fast
movement. Ritualists translate the phrase as chariots and food,
işhaĥ being explained as food. işhaĥ is translated
as impulsions everywhere in this book.
MANTRA
(1.9.9): INCREASER OF FELICITIES
Indra, the
protector of wealth,
Is called by
us with chants and worshipped with riks;
Indra is eager
to come for the increase (or growth) of our felicities.
vasoĥ
indram vasupatim
felicities,
Indra, protector of wealth,
gīrbhiĥ
gŗņanta ŗgmiyam;
chants,
praising with, worshipped with the rik mantrās,
homa
gantāram ūtaye.
we call, who
is eager to come, for the increase.
MANTRA
(1.9.10): THE FIXED DWELLING IN SVAR
Wherever there
is Soma preparation for Indra, the mighty one with the fixed
dwelling,
The seeker
lauds the mighty Indra
And praises
his strength.
sutesute
nyokase bŗhat
wherever Soma
is prepared, one with fixed dwelling, mighty,
bŗhata
ed ariĥ;
mighty, .,
seeker or sacrificer;
indrāya
shūşham archati.
for Indra,
strength, praises.
Details:
The dwelling of
Indra is in the luminous world of svar, also called the
Sun-world. It is above the lower triple worlds consisting of
bhūmi, earth or matter, antarikşhaĥ, the midworld of
vital energies, and dyu, heaven or the plane of Mind.
Svar is the plane of all the Gods.
ariĥ:
the spiritual seeker or sacrificer; the meaning of foe is rare
in RV; see also (1.4.6).
bŗhat:
adjective to shūşham strength.
bŗhata:
mighty one, Indra. |
