|
A name in the Vedic
tradition is not merely an identifier; it reveals the contents and
power of the object or entity it denotes. This statement is
especially true for names of Vedās and
Upanishads. There is an understandable curiosity about the meaning
of the word taittirīya which
indicates something connected with tittiri.
Clearly there was a rişhi with
the name Tittiri who was a disciple of
Vaishampāyana. But what is
tittiri? Rendering
sacred words in Veda such as hamsa
as a goose, paramahamsa as the supreme goose and tittiri
as a partridge may satisfy the sadistic pedantry of some scholars.
Persons who revere the Veda must seek the deeper (parokşha)
meaning of the words while studying the texts. To understand the
meaning of the words in Veda, we have to seek the Veda itself, not
secondary sources like purāņa.
The word tittiri is mentioned
along with a legend in TS (2.5.1), whose text and translation
appear in the Part III of this book. The word also occurs in RV
(1.36.7). A paraphrase of the legend in TS (2.5.1) is as follows:
Tvaşhtŗ is the divine architect who
creates a variety of forms both according to RV and TS (2.6.10).
His son or creation, Vishwarūpa,
the All-form had three heads; with one head he imbibed Soma, the
delight of existence; with the second he drank
sura, the liquor; and
with the third head he ate food (anna).
Indra realising the dangers of
Vishwarūpa becoming
all-powerful separated the three heads. The head, which imbibed
Soma, became kapiňjala;
that which drank sura became kalavingka; and
that which ate food became tittiri.
The text mentions only these names and does not specify that they
are birds.
Kapiňjala means
rays of spiritual Sun, (ka: who, pin: drinks,
jala: waters); it is
synonym of the chātaka bird which drinks the waters coming directly from the sky before
it touches the earth. Kalavingka
means one who destroys (la) the
knowings (vingka).
To understand
tittiri, note that it
occurs in RV (1.36.7) as titir-vāmsa.
Sri Kapāli Sāstry
in his Rig Veda Bhāşhya translates it
as “that which overcomes the foes (such as ignorance).'' He gives
the Pāņinian derivation:
tarate
tiratervā liţi
kvasuĥ, anyat
sarvam chāndasam.
The symbolism behind
the legend is easy to understand. The three heads correspond to
the three types of beings namely gods or
devaĥ, demons like Vŗtra
and finally humans. The Gods made of Light enjoy the Delight
or Soma; the demons like liquor; humans depend on food.
Indra the lord of Divine Mind foresees
that if this All-form (vishwarūpa)
should become all-powerful, the demonic head would become all
powerful. Hence he separates the three heads even in their
formative stages. The form which came from the gods merged or
became the rays of spiritual Sun (kapiňjala);
the demonic form rejoined the forces of ignorance which hide the
knowledge and energies from the humans.
Recall that
tittiri is said to come from
the head which eats anna, i.e., it represents human beings. Thus
tittiri symbolises the forces or beings which help human
beings in getting the knowledge which overcomes the psychological
foes such as ignorance and falsehood. This title gives an
excellent clue to the contents of TS.
Another important
contribution of the legend quoted above is that it makes a clear
distinction between the intoxicating liquid (sura)
and the non-physical delight of existence (soma).
Even if we interpret Soma as a creeper, there is no mention of the
intoxication properties of all the 24 varieties of Soma creeper
according to classical Ayurvedic texts
like Charaka
Samhita. RV (10.85.3) states clearly that no one can drink
that which the wise call Soma.
Let us understand
the titles of the other recensions of
Yajur Veda.
Kapişhţhala means that whose source is in the Spiritual
Sun. Maitrāyaņi is the vehicle
(āyani) for attaining harmony
and friendship. Vājasaneya
(VS), a recension of
Shukla Yajur
Veda, means the conquering (sana)
of the opulence or plenitude (vāja).
The
brāhmaņa,
āraņyaka and Upanishad of the
Rig Veda, Aitareya, is derived from
itara which means progressing
from here (ita
means here) to the superior psychological planes (ra means movement). |
