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There are numerous mantrās of RV quoted verbatim in Upanishads.
There are many key phrases in the Upanishads which have
their corresponding ones in RV. A systematic study of the Veda and
Upanishads has not been done. We give here just a few examples.
The oft-quoted passage of Shvetāshvatara Upanishad (2.5),
“Here ye, children of immortality”, occurs originally in Rigveda
(10.13.1). The famous hamsa mantra of Kaţha
Upanishad (2.2.2), “The swan that settles in the purity. . .
born of truth,—itself the truth, the vast” occurs originally in RV
(4.40.5). The famous mantra of the two birds signifying the
individual soul and supreme soul found in Mundaka Upanishad
(3.1.1) is originally from RV (1.164.20). It is hardly a
coincidence since the word suparņa translated as bird
occurs in more than half a dozen verses of RV bearing always the
symbol of soul. Some commentators often misinterpret the phrase
two birds in RV as husband and wife. The famous utterance of
Upanishad that brahman cannot be attained by duality is in
RV (5.12.2). The idea that “brahman cannot be attained by
mere action or effort” is in RV (8.70.3) and (5.48.5), “brahman
cannot be approached by thought” RV (1.170.1) or Kena Upanishad
(1.3).
The famous ecstatic utterance of the Rişhi Vāmadeva in RV (4.26.1)
declaring that, “I am Sūrya, I am Manu. . .” is repeated in
Bŗhadāraņyaka Upanishad(1.4.10). The Aitareya U. (2.4)
specifically mentions the mantra of the Rişhi Vāmadeva in RV
(4.27.1) and the name of rişhi also. The same Upanishad mentions
Vāmadeva in the third adhyāya also. The concept of the
mystic heart centre hŗdā which occurs more than thirty
times in RV is also found in several places in Upanishad.
The triplet 'The heart, the mind and intellect' hŗdāmanasā
manīşha found in Kaţha Upanishad (6.9), Shvetāshvatara
Upanishad (13.3) etc., is originally in RV.
It is clearly notable that certain instructions given in the
Upanishads have their basis in certain mantrās of the Rigveda
Samhitā. Sri Aurobindo, the revealer of the secret of
the Veda has cited an instance. He has shown how the passage from
the Īsha Upanishad verse, hiraņmayena pātreņa,
“golden lid. . . ” and the rik RV (5.62.1), "ŗtena ŗtam
apihitam . . . ” are identical in meaning.
We may note that the Īsha verse is also in the Bŗhadāraņyaka
Upanishad (5.15.1) and the Maitri Upanishad (6.35).
We shall first give the rik in the order of the pada
pāţha and explain; then we shall proceed to show that the
meaning of the rik fits in with that of the Upanishadic
passage.
The rik (5.62.1) of the seer shrutavit atri
ŗtena ŗtam apihitam dhruvam vām
sūryasya yatra vimuchanti ashvān
dasha shatā saha tasthuĥ
tadekam devānām shreşhţham vapuşhām apashyam.
Translation:
“There is a truth ŗtam covered by a (inferior) truth
ŗtena where your place is secure,
where they unyoke the horses of sun;
the ten hundreds stood together,
where was that One, I saw the greatest of the embodied Gods” RV
(5.62.1).
The import is clear: the highest eternal truth standing over,
beyond is covered by the inferior truth of this creation; when
this cover is removed, one comes face to face with the higher
truth.
The translation given here is according to the esoteric view. We
discuss in detail Sāyaņa's translation based on the gross
interpretation. Sāyaņa translates the first pāda of the
mantra as “water covering the solar orb”. He interprets the
third pāda in the mythological sense alluding to the
imprisonment of the horses of the sun by asurās called
Mandeha. Again his commentary illustrates his use of the
mythological and naturalist ideas even though he claims to focus
only on the ritualist ideas.
Connection to Işha Upanishad (15, 16)
Grasping the import of this rik the rişhi of the Upanishad
says in plain uncovered language:
“The face of Truth is covered with a
brilliant golden lid; that do thou remove, O Forester, for the law
of the Truth, for sight”.
hiraņmayena pātreņa satyāpihitam mukham
tat tvam pūşhannapāvŗņu satyādharmāya dŗşhţaye.
O sole Seer, O ordainer, O illumining Sun, O power of the Father
of creatures, marshal thy rays, draw together thy Light; the
Lustre which is thy most blessed from of all, that in Thee I
behold. The puruşha there and there, He am I.
pūşhannekarşhe yama sūrya prājāpatya vyūha rashmīn samūha.
tejo yat te rūpam kalyāņtamam tatte pashyāmi yo sāvasau
puruşhaĥ so ahamasmi
(Tr. by Sri Aurobindo.)
We shall show how this mantra of the Upanishad fits
in with that of the Rigveda.
In the Veda it is by the inferior truth: in the Upanishad,
by the golden lid. Though, by reason of its
inferiority, it acts as a covering, still it is essentially the
truth and hence the covering lid is Truth and hence the covering
lid is described as brilliant gold; Truth (is) concealed
in the Veda, the face of the truth is concealed in the Upanishad.
In the Veda it is the greatest of the embodied, in
the Upanishad, the most blessed form. It refers to
the eternal supreme Light beyond.
In the Veda, it is That One; in the Upanishad,
He am I.
In the Veda, it is ten hundreds (of rays), Sāyaņa
too explains it to be so; the Upanishad plainly says, rays.
Released, in the Veda; marshal in the Upanishad.
In the Veda they stood together; the Upanishad says draw
together.
Always in the Veda the Supreme Person of intense Consciousness,
Truth and Light is symbolised by the Sun; so also generally in the
Upanishads. This one illustration is enough to show the
direct connection of the truths in the Upanishads with the
mantrās of Rigveda. It should be evident that the knowledge
of the rişhi of the Upanishad is self-revealing and
is more subtle and more grand and true than that noticed in the
commentary of the champion of the ritualists, Sāyaņa. Needless to
add that the knowledge of the rişhis of the Upanishad was
especially superior to that of the modern scholars or their
followers.
RV (5.62.1): word-meaning, Sāyaņa commentary and our remarks:
Word meaning with explanation: sūryasya, of supreme God
savitŗ who activates all ŗtam, the supreme Truth in its
own form, ŗtena, by the truth in the form of the universe
standing as the three worlds denoted by the term lower half,
apihitam, concealed apashyam, I have seen yatra,
in which supreme Truth vām, of you both, mitrā
varuņayoĥ, Mitra and Varuņa, the place is dhruvam,
secure or eternal; where ashvān vimuchanti, they
mass the rays and marshal them. And where dasha-shatā, the
ten hundred rays stood together in on place devānām vapuşhām
shreşţham tad ekam, of those that had attained the form of
the Gods or of the embodied Gods, the excellent, most auspicious
Form, presiding over, yet above the Cosmos, known to the rişhis
famously as That, without compeer, dazzling, brilliant, the Form
of Truth, have I seen.
Here it is to be noted: Sāyaņa explains vām in the third
case as the subject of the impersonal voice; we read it as your
place, seat, vām yuvayoĥ, sixth case. Either way
there is ellipsis. That the seat of Mitra and Varuņa is the World
of the Sun is not disputed. Sāyaņa says ŗtena is “by water
and ŗtam is the solar orb. I, the rişhi have seen the sun
covered by the water”. On the other hand we say: it means the
rişhi says he had beheld the Light celebrated in the Hymns as
vareņyam bhargaĥ the excellent Effulgence, tad
vişhņoĥ paraman padam, that highest step of Vişhņu
sarvadhātamam shreşhţham, the excellent all-sustainer
the One supreme Truth known by the terms tat, That, shining
in that High Ether, the pure, intense and substantial
Consciousness--known as akşhara, the Immobile, the Truth
whose symbol is the Sun.
To Sāyaņa, ashvāĥ, means ten hundreds of rays. To us
also this is acceptable. But Sāyaņa goes on to explain the purport
by drawing upon legends which speak of the horses of sūrya
imprisoned by asurās called mandeha and others,
being released by the prayers of the invokers. We would suggest
that the mention of release and dwelling together indicate the
massing and marshalling of the brilliance's of the Light of Truth
denoted by the word Ray. We accept too the figurative
(metaphorical) meaning “of the embodied Gods” given by Sāyaņa to
devānām vapuşham. If it be asked what are two
ŗtams spoken of in ŗtena ŗtam, we would point out: the
current use of the terms ŗta and satya to mean one
and the same thing is also to be found at times in the Veda. But
really there is a distinction between the two. The world satya
signifies that which is the eternal, the supreme, Existence in its
own form sat. ŗtam signifies that which is evident
or perceptible, manifested out of the satya, what has come
to be in accordance with satya or that which represents the
satya. In this rik word ŗta has been
explained in terms of satya. Both the ŗtams are
indeed satya. One is the supreme satya, Truth, the
Eternal of Upper Half known as the supreme Ether. That Truth, is
here said to be covered by an inferior truth of the lower half.
Sāyaņa explains the passage to mean that the cloud covers the Sun
and the rişhi saw the Sun on the exit of the cloud. Now, one need
not be a rişhi to be able to see the Sun when the cloud has
passed; anyone with ordinary eyes can do that! No wonder the
moderns, on the strength of such explanations, speak lightly of
the rişhis of the Veda as simpletons, idiots who see a great
wonder even in the everyday sight of the sun and go into ecstasies
over it!
The import is clear: the highest eternal Truth standing
over, beyond, is covered by the inferior truth of this creation
and when this cover is removed, one comes face to face with that
higher Truth. Sāyaņa's gross interpretation has it that the
dwelling place of Mitra and Varuņa is the Sun. The hymns
laud both of them as the guardians of the Truth whose Law is the
truth and whose dwelling also is the paramam vyoma, the
supreme ether. “With the Truth as your law, you stand in your
carriage in the supreme Ether protecting the Truth” RV (5.63.1).
This and similar riks convey the identity between (the two)
Mitra and Varuņa on one hand and the Sūrya that is the Truth on
the other. In explaining this rik, we have indicated
somewhat, the trend of thought in Sāyaņa's commentary as
also our own.
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