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Studies of
RIG VEDA
Book 5


12 Hymns to Mitra and Varuna
(With translation and commentaries of
Sri Aurobindo)


















University of Human Unity
Auroville
INDIA


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Introduction

Adityas and other Gods.

The faculties of Consciousness in the Veda are seen as projected from the Divine
Mother, Aditi, Infinite Consciousness-Force. The supreme emanations of that
Consciousness-Force are called Adityas, the Sons of Aditi. There are seven of them:
Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Daksha, Amsha and Surya.
There are different classes of gods mentioned in the Veda: Adityas, Vasus, Vishve-
devas, Maruta-gana, Raudra-gana, etc. Although they differ from each other they also
share many features and powers in the process of manifesting the Divine, which makes
it difficult for the mind not used to distinguish the subtle differences in the commonly
shared features. Ordinary mind would only see the crowded common imagery assigned
to all of them. The ability to distinguish the particularities in the commonly shared
features Sri Aurobindo attributes to the higher mind. He writes: Yet as all these things
form one in the realised godhead, as each element contains the others in itself and
none of them can exist separately from the rest, therefore each of the Four
(Adityas) also possesses by force of his own essential quality every general attribute of
his brothers. For this reason if we do not read the Veda as carefully as it was written,
we shall miss its distinctions and see only the indistinguishable common functions of
these luminous Kings, as indeed throughout the hymns the unity in difference of all
the gods makes it difficult for the mind not accustomed to the subtleties of psychological
truth to find in the Vedic divinities anything but a confused mass of common or
interchangeable attributes. But the distinctions are there Each god contains in himself
all the others, but remains still himself in his peculiar function.
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This particular ability Sri
Aurobindo assigns to the faculty of a higher mind.

ditya-gaa is a class of deities, which distinctly differs from other types of gods such as
Vive-devs, for instance, who are the Universal Gods, operating already in the created
Universe, whereas Adityas are still representing the transcendental and supramental

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Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 497



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levels. In their original status they also differ from the Vasu class, though many times
they are called upon to be identified with the status of Vasus, especially when they are
to rise in the consciousness of man.
Vasu lit. means a luminous dweller within the substance, Agni is often invoked by this
name. And since Agni represents all the gods and godheads here and is their gate to the
manifested consciousness of man, as it were, this word is also applied to all of them
when used in this particular meaning of rising to the higher status from within. Thus
Adityas , Maruts , Ashvins , Indra , Ushas , Rudra , Vayu , Vishnu , Siva and Kubera are
invoked as Vasus then. In the post Vedic literature the class of Vasu, vasu-gaa,
consists of eight Vasus, the eighth one was born as Bhishma in the story of
Mahabharata.
There is also a clear distinction between the Adityas and the Maruts, or the class of
Rudras, though again they may be called upon to be identified with Rudras for a
particular purpose, in the same way as Agni can take any of the features of other gods
on himself. Rudras is a class of gods, especially when they are mentioned in plural,
indicating the sons of Rudra (sometimes identified with or distinguished from the
Maruts, who are 11 or 33 in number). In the Brahmanas and Aranyakas 11 Rudras are
mentioned together with their female energies Rudranis. Later, from Brahmanas
onwards, the number of Adityas grew to 12, which seem to represent symbolically the
twelve months of the Sun, Aditya.

The eighth son of Aditi

Surya Savitri is the Creator, representing the Supramental Manifestation in all its glory of
all the godheads, embodying all his brothers. He by projecting himself into the darkness
of Inconscient becomes Vivasvat of Martanda, Mortal Embryo, or Mortal Universe. It is
this dark Sun, who is hidden by the Titans in the Subconscious cave of Darkness, which
has to be recovered by the Sacrifice.
So Vivasvat is a Creator of the Universe, who thus carries within himself all the
potentialities of his seven brothers from whom they are to rise to their high throne, from


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where they could see both the Supreme realms of Existence and the Lower Nature.
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It is
only then they may arrive at a supreme perception of the Lord, Puruottama of the Gita,
or a of the a Upaniad.

The four transcendental Godheads or the Guardians of Light.

1) Varua represents the Vastness of Infinite Being, Sat.
2) Mitra represents the luminosity and harmony of the Divine Consciousness, Cit.
3) Aryaman is the power of the Divine Tapas.
4) Bhaga is the Bliss of the Divine Fulfillment, Ananda.

Sri Aurobindo calls the first four Adityas the Guardians of Light, for they are guarding
the Transcendental Light from one side and from another introducing it into the lower
hemisphere. He writes in the Secret of the Veda: Aditi is the infinite Light of which the
divine world is a formation and the gods, children of the infinite Light, born of her in the
Ritam, manifested in that active truth of her movement guard it against Chaos and
Ignorance.
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Sri Aurobindo defines the characteristics of the four first Adityas in this way:
The Divine is existence all-embracing, infinite and pure; Varuna brings to us the infinite
oceanic space of the divine soul and its ethereal, elemental purity.
The Divine is boundless consciousness, perfect in knowledge, pure and therefore
luminously right in its discernment of things, perfectly harmonious and happy in its
concordance of their law and nature; Mitra brings us this light and harmony, this right
distinction and relation and friendly concord, the happy laws of the liberated soul
concordant with itself and the Truth in all its rich thought, shining actions and
thousandfold enjoyment.
The Divine is in its own being pure and perfect power and in us the eternal upward
tendency in things to their source and truth; Aryaman brings to us this mighty strength
and perfectly-guided happy inner upsurging.

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RV 5.62.8

rohatho varua mitra grtam ta cakthe diti dti ca / O Varuna, O Mitra,

you two are ascending to your throne from where you see Aditi and Diti, Infinite and Finite
Consciousness.

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SV 475


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The Divine is the pure, the faultless, the all-embracing, the untroubled ecstasy that
enjoys its own infinite being and enjoys equally all that it creates within itself; Bhaga
gives us sovereignly that ecstasy of the liberated soul, its free and unfallen possession of
itself and the world.
This quaternary is practically the later essential trinity of Sachchidananda,Existence,
Consciousness, Bliss with self-awareness and self-force, Chit and Tapas, for double
terms of Consciousness; but it is here translated into its cosmic terms and equivalents.

The Triple Status of the Supermind

Sri Aurobindo described the triple status of the Supermind in various ways. First we will
use his description in the philosophical terms. It is important for us in order to identify
the faculties of the next three Adityas and their functions, which will be directly
connected with the triple status of the Supermind.

1) Unity
2) Many in One and One in Many
3) Many

In the chapter The Triple Status of the Supermind. Sri Aurobindo writes about these
three levels: The first founds the inalienable unity of things, the second modifies that
unity so as to support the manifestation of the Many in One and One in Many; the third
further modifies it so as to support the evolution of a diversified individuality which, by
the action of Ignorance, becomes in us at a lower level the illusion of the separate ego.
This vision will be then projected into all the structure of the lower manifestation on all
its levels. We may always find these three elements in the life of every creature: (1) the
unifying oneness dominating over the individual elements, (2) the harmonizing diversity
and its relation with oneness, and vise versa, and (3) the diversifying individual
elements, deviating from the oneness as far as possible. These three will become the
major grades in the hierarchy of the mental-vital-physical structure of consciousness,
maintaining their approaches to the reality as a whole and to each other in particular.


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Sri Aurobindo also depicts the three layers of the Supermind in the psychological terms,
in relation to three activities of the intuitive mind, for Intuition is a flesh of the
Supramental light reaching out to the lower levels of consciousness. It is interesting to
compare the two, philosophical and psychological descriptions. Here is a psychological
one:
1) Imperative Supermind, which corresponds to Revelation. That is always true.
Nothing can stand against it. It is knowledge fulfilling itself by its own power.
2) Representative Supermind represents the actual movements of potentialities
and shows that in operation. When Inspiration is changed into its supramental
value, then it becomes this Representative Supermind. Even this is not the
highest. There you know certain potentialities in thought and action working and
you can in many cases say what would happen or how a certain thing happened
if it does.
3) Interpretative Supermind, corresponding to Intuition. I call it Interpretative,
because what is a possibility on the mental plane becomes a potentiality on the
supramental plane and the Interpretative puts all the potentialities before you. It
shows the root cause of events that may become true on the physical plane.
When Intuition is changed into its supramental value, it becomes Interpretative
Supermind.
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Three Godheads of the Supermind

1) Daka represents the power of Thought, All-discerning and All-distributing Power of
Supramental Consciousness.
2) Aa represents the diversity in Oneness supported by that Unifying Power of
Daksha.
3) Srya or Savitar represents all the seven Adityas and projects them into a lower
Creation. His rays represent the diversity in the domains of Svar.

Daka is the Father of all the Adityas born for manifesting the Divine in the material
Universe. Even Aditi is born to him as his daughter, the cosmic universal Cow,

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The Supermind, Vol.17, p.26, SABCL, 1971, Pondicherry


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supporting with her milk all the creation. It is in the Daksha that the triple conception by
the Lord within his Consciousness is taking place,
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which creates the triple status of the
Supermind.
Sri Aurobindo speaks of Daksha in this way:
Aditi is originally the pure consciousness of infinite existence one and self-luminous;
she is the Light that is Mother of all things. As the infinite she gives birth to Daksha,
the discriminating and distributing Thought of the divine Mind, and is herself
born to Daksha as the cosmic infinite, the mystic Cow whose udders feed all the worlds.
It is this divine daughter of Daksha who is the mother of the gods. In the cosmos Aditi is
the undivided infinite unity of things, free from the duality, advaya, and has Diti the
separative dualising consciousness for the obverse side of her cosmic creation,her
sister and a rival wife in the later myth.
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Aa lit. means a portion, which implies two meanings simultaneously: oneness and
separateness. It is in this Amsha that the Jivatman is being shaped, projecting itself as
the Psychic being into the lower hemisphere of the Surya Savitri, the Creator.
Sri Aurobindo speaks of the second status of the Supermind in this way:
In the second poise of the Supermind the Divine Consciousness stands back in the idea
from the movement which it contains,
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realising it by a sort of apprehending
consciousness, following it, occupying and inhabiting its works, seeming to distribute
itself in its forms.
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In each name and form it would realize itself as the stable Conscious-
Self, the same in all; but also it would realise itself as a concentration of Conscious-Self
following and supporting the individual play of movement and upholding its
differentiation from other play of movement,the same everywhere in soul-
essence, but varying in soul-form. This concentration supporting the soul-form

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RV 5.69.2 tryas tasthur vr abh

sas tisr

dhin retodh

v dyumnta/
There stand wide three luminous Bulls
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and cast their seed into the three Thoughts.


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SV 473
7
Cf to Sajna, Vijnna, jna, Prajna.
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Cf. to Aa ditya


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would be the individual Divine or Jivatman as distinguished from the universal
Divine or one all-constituting self.
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Seven Sons of Aditi
Thus the seven sons of Aditi, the Divine Mother are:
1) Varuna, Sat
2) Mitra, Cit
3) Aryaman, Tapas
4) Bhaga, Ananda
5) Daksha, Supramental Knowledge-Force
6) Amsha, Supramental Many in Oneness and Oneness in Many
7) Surya Savitri, Supramental Manifestation

So we can see that the whole range of the powers and consciousness was already
prepared in the Supermind as a Creator before the manifestation of Cosmos could take
place physically. Surya is the Creator of this Universe and at the same time he is the
Supreme Lord, who gathered all his power, consciousness and bliss to create himself
anew, to become many, bahu sym iti.
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ADITI thus reflects through her sons the higher status of the Divine in the lower
hemisphere. Then she is called in the Veda Diti.
So there are all the equivalents of the Seven Adityas within the lower Creation, there is
presence of All embracing Infinity of Varuna, there is a creative and harmonising all
My of Mitra, there is a powerful presence of Aryaman, and the delight of Bhaga on all
the levels of Creation. It is because of the Sacrifice of the Divine Mother, Aditi, that the
higher states of Consciousness are projected into and present in the lower creation. It is
these who manifest the world.
This duality was created by the Supramental Consciousness-Force which thus maintains
the double process of the One: its diversity and its oneness. The Consciousness of the

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Volume: 18-19 [SABCL] (The Life Divine), Page: 146

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TaitUp 2.10.


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Supreme is thus including both, and exceeding them both. To rise to his Supreme
perception one must maintain both states simultaneously, as the Isha Upanishad says:
vidyam cavidyam ca yas tad vedobhayam saha, avidyaya mrtyum tirtva vidyayaamritam
ashnute. The one who knows both simultaneously Knowledge and Ignorance, indeed
by Ignorance passes through the Death (as the field of constant change in Time and
Space) and by Knowledge enjoys Immortality (as the all knowing state of Being).
It is a description of the Supreme Consciousness partaking in both, and infinitely
manifesting itself in time and beyond time being essentially one.
The Lord experiences the state of his Immortality within the transitory situation, within
time and space continuum, being infinitely free from them. It is only when man can
perceive both that he may rise to the highest consciousness of the Lord and see his both
poises of Diti and Aditi. And that is what these godheads are doing through mans
consciousness, rising to their highest realization.

Surya Savitri the Lord of Creation

The Rays of the Sun thus build up the luminous planes, called in the Vedas Svar.
It has three luminous realms, called tr rocan.
Which thus project the higher three realms of the Cosmic Mind, called tisro dyva,
sustaining the three spaces of the Vital realms, called tr rajsi, supported by the three
foundations of the Physical, called tisro bhm.
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Sri Aurobindo translated tr rocan as three luminous worlds divine: three powers of
Light uphold three luminous worlds divine, tr aryam

mnuo devtt tr

rocan

divy

dhrayanta.
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These three powers of Light as the triple status of the Supermind uphold
the three luminous worlds of the Svar, tr rocan, supporting then the three heavens
tr uta dyn, and the three spaces of the mid-worlds, tri rajsi.

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RV5.69.1 tr

rocan

varua tr

m r ut dy

n tr

i mitra dhrayatho rjsi Three worlds of the

Light you two uphold, O Varuna, three heavens, three mid-worlds, O Mitra! The three luminous
worlds tr rocan, (from root ruc, to shine) are the three levels of Svar.
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So the three luminous realms are projected into the three heavens of our mentality and
the three spaces of our vitality; and all of them are supported by Mitra and Varuna. It is
as if they penetrate it through from the beyond influencing them with their presence,
consciousness and power.

RV 2. 27.8 mentions also of the three bhumis:
tisr bh

mr dhrayan tr

m r ut dy

n tr

i vrat

vidthe antr em
r tndity mhi vo mahitv td aryaman varua mitra c

ru
They (Adityas) support the three earths, and the three heavens. Three are the laws
within the sacrificial gathering (inside the Antariksha). By the Truth the sons of Infinity
have their greatness here great, and that is Beautiful, O Aryaman, Varuna and Mitra.

The Triple Worlds

There are three earths, three levels in the vital, and the three levels in the mind: tisro
bhm, tri rajsi, and tisro dyva, projected, as it were, from three worlds of Svar,
tr

rocan

, as the Rays of the Sun of the Supramental Consciousness-Force.

WORLD SVAR SUPERMIND
Mental mind,
Vital mind, MIND
Physical mind UNITY

Mental vital,
Vital vital, VITAL MANY IN ONE and ONE IN MANY
Physical vital

Mental physical, MANY
Vital physical, PHYSICAL
Physical physical


The Mental Mind is what Sri Aurobindo calls in Savitri the Self of Mind, the Cosmic or
Universal Mind. The Vital Mind is the Universal Lifes Mind and the Physical Mind is the
one which manifests the physicality of the Universe. Human mind is also build on the
material ground, dependent on the physical brain, dealing with physical reality of the
Cosmos.


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And these are the three heavens mentioned in the RV 1.35.6 as tisro dyva of Savitar:
two are his own realms and one is in the realm of Yama: tisro dyva savitur dv
upast ek yamasya bhuvane vir. So it is the Mind of the physical Universe, which
is in the world of Yama, and the Universal Vital Mind and the Universal Mental Mind are
in the realms of Savitar, which Sri Aurobindo calls in his system of Knowledge: Higher
and Illumined Mind.

A Comparison of the Vedic and Sri Aurobindos terminology

If we were to compare Sri Aurobindos terms with the Vedic terminology we would see
this picture:

Supermind
Overmind tr rocan, three luminous worlds divine
Intuitive Mind

Illumined Mind
Higher Mind tisro dyva, three heavens
Mind

We have already mentioned tisro dyva, the three realms of the Universal Mind:
Mental, Vital and Physical, which in Sri Aurobindos terminology are identified as
Illumined Mind, Higher Mind and Mind, but we did not speak about the three rocanas
yet, the three luminous realms of Svar. The particularity of Svar is that it begins in the
Supermind and extends itself into the Overmind and then to the Intuitive Mind. It is here
that the major difficulty of understanding of Svar lies. Sri Aurobindo speaks of Svar
differently in different contexts, sometimes he identifies it with the Supermind and
sometimes he underlines the difference between the two. It is the world of the Rays of
the Sun, which in its first stage, before going out, is still a part of the Sun and is Sun
itself. It is only later that the Rays disperse into the groupings of flashes in the
Overmental realms and finally become separate in the Intuitive Mind.


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Sri Aurobindo describes this phenomenon in his letter (LY 261) speaking of the levels of
the Overmind:
There are different planes of the overmind.
1) One is mental, directly creative of all the formations that manifest below in the
mental worldthat is the mental overmind.
2) Above is the overmind intuition.
3) Still above are the planes of overmind that are more and more connected with the
supermind and have a partly supramental character. Highest in the overmind ranges is
the supramental overmind or overmind gnosis.

Commenting on the Hymn to Mitra and Varuna, Sri Aurobindo speaks about the three
rocanas as the three luminous worlds in which the triple mental, the triple vital, the
triple physical find the light of their truth and the divine law of their powers.

There is another fundamental difficulty in understanding of Svar, for, according to the
Veda, it was created last, after Heaven and Earth and Antariksha came into existence. It
is as if it requires a feedback, or a field of application. If the lower creation were not
there, Svar would not come into being. It is because of Agni being born in the lower
creation, calling for the light from above, that Svar finally manifests.
Cf. RV 10.88.2: grm bhvana tmas

pagham/ v svar abhavaj jt agna,

[First] the World was swallowed by the Darkness and hidden within it. Then, when Agni
was born, Svar became manifest.

The Hymn of Creation (RV 10.190) also speaks of Svar as being created last:
r t ca saty cbh

ddht tpas 'dhi ajyata /

tto r

tr ajyata tta samudr arav

The Law and the Truth were born from the kindled Power of Tapas.
From that the Night was born, from the Night - the Ocean of Inconscient Waters.

samudr

d arav

d dhi savatsar ajyata /

ahortr

i viddhad vvasya miat va

From the Ocean the Year was born, distributing Days and Nights,


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the Master of All that changes.

srycandramsau dht

yathprvm akalpayat /
dva ca pr thiv

ca antrikam tho sva

The Sun and Moon, the Establisher fashioned as before. Heaven and Earth and Space
in-between, and then - Svar!

The explanation to this phenomenon we can find in the understanding of that fact that
there is a fundamental difference between the Illumined Mind and the higher realms of
the Intuitive Mind and the Overmind. Sri Aurobindo writes about it in his letter (LY 264):
Intuition is above illumined Mind which is simply higher Mind raised to a great
luminosity and more open to modified forms of intuition and inspiration.
The Intuition is the first plane in which there is a real opening to the full
possibility of realisationit is through it that one goes fartherfirst to
overmind and then to supermind.

He also defines the difference between the Illumined Mind and Intuitive Mind in his
Savitri, in the Canto The Self of Mind, where Intuitive Mind can be reached only through
the higher action of Intuition itself coming down from above to the Illumined Mind (see
the quotations at the end). It is through the overflooding directness of the Overmind via
Intuition that the Illumined Mind can come into contact with the Supramental
consciousness says Sri Aurobindo. In his letter he writes:
the thousand-petalled lotussahasradalaabove commands the higher thinking
mind, houses the still higher illumined mind and at the highest opens to the intuition
through which or else by an overflooding directness the overmind can have with
the rest communication or an immediate contact.
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LY 365


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Two lower triple realms of

Mental Vital
Vital tr rajsi
Physical Vital

Mental Physical
Vital Physical tisro bhm
Physical

Tri rajamsi, the three realms of the Vital are the levels of (1) the Higher Universal Life,
(2) the Universal Life, as such, with an entrance to the Infinite Darkness, and (3) the
Universal Life as it is known to us projected into the creation of material Universe.
So, the Mental Vital corresponds to the plane which Sri Aurobindo describes in the
Second Book of the Traveler of the Worlds, in the Ninth Canto The Paradise of the Life-
Gods. It is the Life Force which is on the other shore of Creation, beyond the darkness.
To reach to that shore Aswapati must cross the regions of the Eternal Night, which are
described in the previous two Cantos, 7 and 8: The Descent into Night, and The World
of Falsehood, The Mother of Evil and the Sons of Darkness.
It is only after crossing those levels of Infinite Darkness and Evil that he moves to the
realms of the Mental Vital and then to the Mind levels in the following Cantos; first to
The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Little Mind, which corresponds to the Cosmic
Physical Mind, depicted in the Veda as Heaven of Yama, ruling over men, yamasya
bhuvane vir, which is our human mind in its highest potential, and then to the
Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Mind, to the Cosmic Higher Minds regions.
Thus the realms of Life are the place where all the troubles, the dark forces enter into
our system of mental-physical existence. It is here in the Vital, Antarika, that the bridge
is to be made by the Sacrifice to the higher powers of consciousness seeking their direct
and effective influence. It is here that the whole battle is going on between the Sons of
Light and the Sons of Darkness in the field of our Life.

The tisro bhm are the three realms of the Universal Physical, determined by


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(1) the Mind, which makes it self conscious in manifesting and maintaining its form,
(2) by the Life, which makes it dynamic in its own movement;
(3) and with the proper Physical, as an faculty housing all other forces and levels of
consciousness taking their part in the material manifestation of the Divine.

Without physical being fully prepared there cant be any direct Supramental influence in
the material Nature, for it is, as it is clear now, dragging down the vital and the mind
inherent in it, not allowing them to realize their full and free potential. And there is a
reason for it, for all of them are here only to manifest the Divine in matter, and not for
any other reason. Sri Aurobindo says in his letter to a Sadhak:
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There can be no conquest of the other planes by the supermind but only an influence,
so long as the physical is not ready. And how is it possible to perfect the mind and
vital unless the physical is preparedfor there is such a thing as the mental and
vital physical and mind and vital cannot be said to be perfectly prepared until
these are ready.

Body as a Supramental creation

The triple conception by the Creator, depicted in the Veda, within his own
Consciousness creates the Supermind. The very physical consciousness is a result of this
conception and a part of its realisation.
The physical and mental consciousness are seen in the Veda as two luminous
firmaments, rodasi, supporting the growing Soul in this Creation.
The body itself is seen as the outcome of a Supramental Creation, which at the first
glance is not easy to understand, but which explains why in the post Vedic spiritual
traditions together with disappearance of the Svar and the Supermind the body also lost
its priority and got reduced to be seen as an imprisonment and even as a problem in
finding our true self rather than a solution in manifesting the Divine in matter.


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LY 1228


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Sri Aurobindo writes in his letter: The supramental is necessary for the
transformation of terrestrial life and being, not for reaching the Self. One
must realise Self first, only afterwards can one realise the supermind.

In the Vedas the Heaven and Earth, our mental and physical consciousness were
considered to be pure and conscious of the Divine. The body was seen as a fortress and
refuge for the soul of man against the forces of Darkness. It was referred to as well-
made, a dwelling place for the Spirit. The treatment of the physical body underwent a
fundamental change in the later Mayavada-oriented spiritual traditions, it was seen as
an obstacle and hindrance for the spiritual realisation, rather than the supporter of or
the field for realisation. It fell off into the domain of a lower consciousness and was
blamed for keeping soul here bound to suffering, against its will to be free.

The Seven Suns of the Supermind

Sri Aurobindo reconsidered the usual Yogic practices, oriented towards Liberation alone,
which came in the post Vedic Period, when the transformation of earthly life and
physical body was considered already to be impossible, to the Vedic view of
transformative practice: invoking the higher powers by the means of aspiration in the
heart and surrendering to them for the transformation. He introduces the ancient Vedic
methods of a Descent of Higher Consciousness and Power into our mental, vital and
even subtle physical and physical bodies for transformation.
It is as if he is looking at the physical body from above, seeing it from the Supramental
point of view. He writes about the seven centers in the body as the manifestation of the
Seven Suns of the Supermind in this way:

1. The Sun of Supramental Truth, - Knowledge=Power originating the supramental
creation. Descent into the Sahasradala.
2. The Sun of Supramental Light and Will-Power, transmitting the Knowledge-Power
as dynamic vision and command to create, found and organize the supramental
creation. Descent into Ajna Chakra, the center between the eyes.


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3. The Sun of Supramental Word, embodying the Knowledge-Power, empowered to
express and arrange the supramental creation. Descent into the Throat Centre.
4. The Sun of Supramental Love, Beauty, and Bliss, releasing the Soul of the
Knowledge-Power to vivify and harmonise the supramental creation. Descent into
the Heart-Lotus.
5. The Sun of Supramental Force dynamised as a power and source of life to
support the supramental creation. Descent into Navel Centre.
6. The Sun of Life-Radiances (Power-Rays) distributing the dynamis and pouring it
into concrete formations. Descent into the Penultimate Centre.
7. The Sun of Supramental Substance-Energy and Form-Energy empowered to
embody the supramental life and stabilize the creation. Descent into the
Muladhara.

The Concept of Sacrifice

Heaven and Earth, the mental and physical consciousness are housing souls here, as the
eternal amshas of the Divine, to perform the Sacrifice here, that is to invoke and bring
down the higher forces of Consciousness. The Heaven and Earth in a meanwhile are
supporting and nourishing them, protecting them from Abhva, the Chaos of the
Inconscient, which they have descended to convert and to save.
Agni, the Divine Will, the spiritual Father of all the evolving souls of men, is thus a
growing Lord in the Darkness, taking all of it into Himself and changing it into the Divine
nature.
Heaven and Earth, our Father and Mother, Mental and Physical Consciousness, were
seen as projected from the Supermind into the darkness of the Inconscient as the
Golden Embryo, first, the Hiranya Garbha. Then they got separated into two halves. The
upper one became Heaven and the lower Earth. The Space in-between became
Antariksha, introducing thus both the superconscient powers into the system and the
beings from below, from the Abyss of Abhva, to meet and to fight in this space. It is a
window to the Infinite Light and the Infinite Darkness. It is a place of a Sacrifice.
And in this space the soul of man is growing, supported by our physical and mental
consciousness. Thus the soul is a battlefield full of helpers and hurters, friends


18
18
and enemies. says Sri Aurobindo about the Vedic symbolism of the Sacrifice All
this lives, teems, is personal, is conscious, is active. We create for ourselves by the
sacrifice and by the word shining seers, heroes to fight for us, children of our
works. The soul of man is a world full of beings, a kingdom in which armies clash to
help or hinder a supreme conquest, a house where the gods are our guests and which
the demons strive to possess; the fullness of its energies and wideness of its being make
a seat of sacrifice spread, arranged and purified for a celestial session.
Such are some of the principal images of the Veda and a very brief and insufficient
outline of the teaching of the Forefathers. So understood the Rig Veda ceases to be an
obscure, confused and barbarous hymnal; it becomes the high-aspiring Song of
Humanity; its chants are episodes of the lyrical epic of the soul in its immortal
ascension. This at least; what more there may be in the Veda of ancient science, lost
knowledge, old psycho-physical tradition remains yet to be discovered.

Sacrifice as a way to transformation

Agni calls to the Godheads from above and from within the depth of his own
Consciousness, thus introducing them and their transcendental presence here in the
earthly consciousness of man.
In his depth of his being he has an access to all the Godheads, for he himself represents
all of them here in the fallen Self.
It is by the Sacrifice performed by men in himself, that these transcendental Godheads,
Adityas are rising to their highest Throne, from which they will be able to see both the
Infinite and the Finite Consciousness.

Agni invokes and brings them here from the luminous realms of Svar, rocand, into the
earthly mind, life and body of men, see RV 1.14.9:

k s

ryasya rocan

d vvn dev

n uarbdha / vpro hteh vakati //

May the Invoker, the Ecstatic Priest, (Agni) bring here to us the Gods, who awake with
the Dawn, from the luminous world of the Sun, rocan

d.




19
19
The Aim of the Sacrifice

The Union of the three levels of the physical consciousness with the three spaces of the
vital and three heavens of the mental consciousness is the aim of the Vedic Sacrifice.
For thus it effectuates the ascent to Svars three luminous realms, tr rocan, introducing
the Supramental consciousness into the lower hemisphere.
The union of Agni, Vayu and Surya, was considered to be the aim of the Vedic Sacrifice,
where Agni was seen as the essence of Earth, Prithivi, Vayu as the essence of the Space
in-between, Antariksha, and Surya the essence of Heaven, Dyaus. So if these three fires
are united into one Fire then the aim of the Sacrifice is realised. For it recreates the
Oneness of the triple status of the Supermind here in the lower hemisphere by
completing it on all the levels of Consciousness.



20
20
RV 5.62
15

i: rutavit treya;
devat: mitrvaru;
chanda: triup

+6+ +6P H|9|(6 4 4l B4F4 4 |4P-t4 HHl+
(H H6l B( 6FB 6( 9T (4l+l ~U 499lP H9*4P + --\--{
66 B 4lP |Pl46Tl P|(t4P Pl 6F9l H(|
|4Hl- |9-4- F4BF4 +l H+ 4lP 9T- 9|4 Hl 446 + --\---
Hl46 9|4lP 76 Hl |Pl=l+l 46Tl P(l|-
446P Hl9l- |9-46 l H4 4|7 B=6 =l(l+ + --\--(
Hl 4lP HHlB- B4=l 4(-6 46*P4 79 4-t4 H4lT
6F4 |+|T H+ 466 4lP 79 |B-4- 9|(|4 |-6 + --\--
H+ ~6lP HP|6 4( 74lP 4|( 4 4=9l PlTl
+PF4-6l 6(l| 6 |PlBl 46T7lF4 H-6- + --\---
H4|4(F6l BT6 9F9l 4 lBl 46T7lF4 H-6-
l=l+l P HTl4Pl+l B(UFT |4- B( l + --\--\
|('4|+|T H4l HF4 FTl |4 Hl=6 |(-4 HHl=+l4
|+|P6l |6|-4 4l B+P P\4l H|t4F4 + --\--
|('4-9P 79Bl -47l4 H4FTP 7|(6l B4F4
Hl l(l 46T |P 6P H6H l H|(|6 |(|6 + --\--<
4( 4 |(U +l|6|4 B(l+ H|7 HP 4+F4 l9l
6+ +l |Pl46Tl4 H|47 |B9lB-6l |=l4l B- F4lP + --\--

15
The Secret of the Veda, p. 518



21
21
The Lords of the Thousand-Pillared Home of Truth and Bliss

The Rishi hymns the eternal and immutable Truth of which the Truth in mutable
things is the veil; that is the goal of the journey of the manifested Sun of divine
knowledge; it is the eternal unity of all things that are and the supreme Divine of
which the Gods are various forms. Into it unite all the wealth of being and
knowledge and power and bliss won by the sacrifice. It is the large vastness of
the wide purities of Varuna and of the shining harmonies of Mitra. There,
eternally stable, dwell the herds of the divine radiances of knowledge; for that
is the happy field to which they here are travelling. The Impeller of the cosmic
movement and journey pours out knowledge in us, the milk of the herds, by the
dawns of the inner light and there descend the streams of the immortal existence
followed by the single and perfect movement of Mitra-Varuna, the Light and
the Purity, the Harmony and the Infinity. It is the rain of heaven which these two
Godheads pour down, upholding the physical existence in its fruits and the
celestial in its herding radiances of illumination. They thus create in man a
force full of divine knowledge and a wide being which they guard and increase,
a strewn seat for the sacrifice. This thousand-pillared force of knowledge they
make a home for themselves and dwell there in the revelations of the Word. It is
luminous in its form and its pillars of life have an iron strength and stability.
They ascend to it in the dawning, in the rising of the Sun of knowledge and look
with that eye of their divine vision on the infinite existence and the finite, the
indivisible unity of things and their multiplicity. It is a home full and large with
the sweetness and ecstasy of the supreme and inviolable peace and bliss which
by their cherishing and fostering protection we seek to conquer and possess.

+6+ +6P H|9|(6 4 4l B4F4 4 |4P-t4 HHl+
(H H6l B( 6FB 6( 9T (4l+l ~U 499lP H9*4P + --\--{

r tna rtm pihita dhruv v s

ryasya ytra vimucnti vn

da at

sah tasthus td ka dev

n rha vpum apayam /5.062.01

1. By the Truth
16
is veiled that ever-standing Truth of yours where they unyoke
the horses of the Sun;
17


16
The active cosmic Truth of things diffused and arranged in their mutability and
divisibility of Time and Space veils the eternal and unchanging Truth of which it is a
manifestation.
17
The eternal Truth is the goal of the divine Light which arises in us and journeys
upward into higher and higher heavens through the shining upper ocean.


22
22
there the ten hundreds
18
stand still together; That One,I have beheld the
greatest of the embodied gods.
19


Interpretation:
Sri Aurobindo writes in the Secret of the Veda:
The self-luminous One is the goal of the Aryan-minded; therefore the seers
worshipped him in the image of the Sun. One existent, him have the seers called
by various names, Indra, Agni, Yama, Matarishwan. The phrases That One,
That Truth,
20
occur constantly in the Veda in connection with the Highest and
with the image of His workings here, the Sun. In one sublime and mystic chant
the refrain returns perpetually, The vast mightiness of the Gods,That One.
There is the goal of that journey of the Sun by the path of the Truth which we
have seen to be also the journey of the awakened and illumined soul. Concealed
by this truth is that Truth of you, of Mitra and Varuna, where they unyoke the
horses of the Sun. The ten hundreds meet there together,That One, I have seen
the supreme God of the embodied gods. But in itself the One is timeless and our
mind and being exist in Time. It is neither today nor tomorrow; who knoweth
That which is transcendent? When it is approached, it vanishes from us.
Therefore we have to grow towards it by giving birth to the gods in
ourselves,
21
increasing their strong and radiant forms, building up their divine
bodies, and this new birth and self-building is the true nature of the
sacrifice,the sacrifice through which there is the awakening of our
consciousness to immortality.
22

Explaining the transcendental character of the Kings Varuna and Mitra Sri
Aurobindo says:
But beyond our farthest skies in the supreme ocean of light and expanse of the
highest superconscient ether our haven awaits us in a Truth hidden by lesser
truth, even as in the inconscient Night darkness is enwrapped and protected by
an ever greater darkness. That is the truth of King Varuna. Thither the Dawns
shining arise, the rivers travel and the Sun unyokes there the horses of his
chariot. And Varuna contains, sees, governs all this in his vast being and by his
illimitable knowledge. All these oceans are his, even to the Inconscient and its
nights so opposite in their seeming to his nature which is that of the extended
radiance of one eternal, vast sun of happy light and truth. Day and Night, light

18
The entire plenitude of the divine wealth in its outpourings of knowledge, force and
joy.
19
The One, the Deva veiled by his form of the divine Sun. Cf. Isha Upanishad, That
splendour which is thy fairest form, O Sun, that let me behold. The Purusha who is there
and there, He am I.
20
Tad ekam, tat satyamphrases always carefully misinterpreted by the commentators.
21
Devavti, devatti.
22
Amtasya cetanam.



23
23
and darkness are symbols in his infinity. Luminous Varuna has embraced the
nights; he holds the Dawns within him by his creative knowledge; visioned, he is
around every object.
23


If the purity, infinity, strong royalty of Varuna are the grand framework and
majestic substance of the divine being, Mitra is its beauty and perfection.
King Varuna is one who sleeps not, but is awake and mighty forever, eternally
an effective force and worker for the Truth and the Right. Still he acts as the
guardian of the Truth rather than constitutes it, or constitutes rather through the
action of other godheads who avail themselves of his wideness and surging
force. He keeps, drives even the shining herds, but does not assemble them in the
pastures, an upholder of our powers and remover of obstacles and enemies
much more than a builder of our parts.
Who then gathers knowledge into this nodus or links divine action in this
sustainer of works? Mitra is the harmoniser, Mitra the builder, Mitra the
constituent Light, Mitra the god who effects the right unity of which Varuna is
the substance and the infinitely self-enlarging periphery. These two Kings are
complementary to each other in their nature and their divine works. In them we
find and by them we gain harmony in largeness: we see in the Godhead and
increase in ourselves purity without defect basing love faultless in wisdom.
Therefore these two are a great duo of the self-fulfilling godhead and the Vedic
word calls them together to a vaster and vaster sacrifice to which they arrive as
the inseparable builders of an increasing Truth.

Sri Aurobindo beautifully describes the Transcendental and its breakthrough
into the lower realms of mind and life in Savitri:

There is a being beyond the being of mind,
An Immeasurable cast into many forms,
A miracle of the multitudinous One,
There is a consciousness mind cannot touch,
Its speech cannot utter nor its thought reveal.
It has no home on earth, no centre in man,
Yet is the source of all things thought and done,
The fount of the creation and its works,
It is the origin of all truth here,
The sun-orb of mind's fragmentary rays,
Infinity's heaven that spills the rain of God,
The Immense that calls to man to expand the Spirit,
The wide Aim that justifies his narrow attempts,
A channel for the little he tastes of bliss.

23
SV, p. 502


24
24
Some shall be made the glory's receptacles
And vehicles of the Eternal's luminous power.
These are the high forerunners, the heads of Time,
The great deliverers of earth-bound mind,
The high transfigurers of human clay,
The first-born of a new supernal race.
The incarnate dual Power shall open God's door,
Eternal supermind touch earthly Time.
The superman shall wake in mortal man
And manifest the hidden demigod
Or grow into the God-Light and God-Force
Revealing the secret deity in the cave.
Then shall the earth be touched by the Supreme,
His bright unveiled Transcendence shall illumine
The mind and heart and force the life and act
To interpret his inexpressible mystery
In a heavenly alphabet of Divinity's signs.
24



In the next passage Sri Aurobindo shows how mental lesser truth is covering up
the supreme Truth, and how the Transcendental is influencing and forming our
life from the beyond, dripping as a bright hue, through the gold lattices and the
shields of the terrestrial mind:

This brilliant roof of our descending plane,
Intercepting the free boon of heaven's air,
Admits small inrushes of a mighty breath
Or fragrant circuits through gold lattices; (hiramayena ptrea satyasypihitam mukham)
It shields our ceiling of terrestrial mind
From deathless suns and the streaming of God's rain,
Yet canalises a strange irised glow,
And bright dews drip from the Immortal's sky.
A passage for the Powers that move our days,
Occult behind this grosser Nature's walls,
A gossamer marriage-hall of Mind with Form
Is hidden by a tapestry of dreams;
Heaven's meanings steal through it as through a veil,
Its inner sight sustains this outer scene.
25



24
P 705
25
p 104


25
25
66 B 4lP |Pl46Tl P|(t4P Pl 6F9l H(|
|4Hl- |9-4- F4BF4 +l H+ 4lP 9T- 9|4 Hl 446 + --\---

tt s vm mitrvaru mahitvm rm

tasthr habhir duduhre

vv pinvatha svsarasya dhn nu vm ka pavr

vavarta / 5.062.02

2. That is the utter vastness of you, O Mitra and Varuna; there the Lord of the
movement milks the herds of his stable radiances by the days. Lo, you twain
swell all the streams of the Blissful One and your one wheel
26
moves in their
path.

Vocabulary:
rm, ind. in this place, here, to this place; going constantly, or instigating [Sy.] RV.
dhen, f. a milch cow pl.; any beverage made of milk RV.; a mare (?) , i , 101 , 10 v , 30
9; speech , voice (?) , i , 2 , 3 (Sy. ; cf. Naigh. i , 11); N. of the wife of Brihaspati Tr.;
pavi, m. (perh. orig. "brightness, sheen"; cf. pvaka ) the tire of a wheel (esp. a golden
tire on the chariot of the Avins and Maruts) RV. Aitr. the metallic point of a spear or
arrow ib., the iron band on a Soma-stone ib., an arrow Nir. xii,30; a thunderbolt Naigh.
ii, 20; speech; fire L.
Hl46 9|4lP 76 Hl |Pl=l+l 46Tl P(l|-
446P Hl9l- |9-46 l H4 4|7 B=6 =l(l+ + --\--(

dhrayatam pr thiv

m ut dy

m mtrarjn varu mhobhi

vardhyatam adh pnvata g

va vr sr jata jradn / 5.062.03

3. You uphold earth and heaven, O Mitra King and King Varuna, by your
greatnesses; you increase the growths of earth, you nourish the shining herds of
heaven, you pour forth the rain of its waters, O swift in strength.

Interpretation:
Sri Aurobindo explains the symbolism of the ocean and the rivers in connection
with the King Varuna:
From this idea of the oceans arose naturally the psychological concept of the
Vedic rivers. These rivers are everywhere. They are the waters which flow down
from the mountain and ascend the mind ranging through and illuminating with
their flow the dark subconscient secrets of Vritra; they are the mighty ones of

26
The unified movement, when the lower wheel of the Sun is struck away; the inferior
truth is taken up into the unity of the higher truth from which it now seems to be
separate in its motion.



26
26
Heaven whom Indra brings down on the Earth; they are the streams of the Truth;
they are the rain from its luminous heavens; they are the seven eternal sisters and
companions; they are the divine waters who have knowledge. They descend
upon the earth, they rise from the ocean, they flow to the ocean, they break out
from the doors of the Panis, they ascend to the supreme seas.
Oceanic Varuna is king of all these waters. In the uprising of the rivers it is
said he is a brother of seven sisters, he is in their middle. And another Rishi
has sung, In the rivers Varuna is seated upholding the law of his works, perfect
in will for empire. Vasishtha speaks with a more explicit crowding of
psychological suggestions, of the divine, pure and purifying waters, honey-
pouring, in the midst of whom King Varuna marches looking down on the truth
and the falsehood in creatures. Varuna too, like Indra with whom he is often
associated, releases the waters; sped from his mighty hands they too, like him,
become all-pervading and flow to a limitless goal. The son of Infinity, the wide
upholder, has loosed them forth everywhere; the rivers journey to the truth of
Varuna.
Not only the goal, the march too is his. Varuna of the puissance and the
thousandfold vision beholds the goal of these rivers; he is the king of the
kingdoms, he is the form of the rivers, for him is a strength supreme and
universal. His oceanic movement envelops all the kingdoms of being and
ascends to the Paradise of the heaven of heavens. He is the hidden ocean it is
said and he climbs passing beyond heaven; when he has set the sacrificial word
in these dawns, then with his luminous foot he tramples asunder illusions and
ascends to Paradise. Varuna, we see, is the oceanic surge of the hidden Divine
as he rises, progressively manifested, to his own infinite wideness and ecstasy
in the soul of the god-liberated seer.

There are wonderful statements explaining the mystery of this creation in double
terms of the dweller and the dwelling.
Cf. vasm rjna vasati jannm, the King of the dwelling places and the
Dwelling Place of those who are born in the body. Indicating that all the
dwelling places are for him to dwell and at the same time He himself is a
dwelling place of all those creatures, which got embodied in the physical body,
who were born.
Cf. also with:
The one who sees all the beings in himself and himself in all the beings etc.
yas tu sarvi bhtny tmany evnupayati sarvabhteu ctmnam tato na
vijugupsate/ yasmin sarvi bhtny tmaivbhd vijnata, tatra ko moha ka
oka ekatvam anupayata// Up

There is an interesting description of the relation between the lower and higher
creation in Savitri, how the higher transcendental realms determine and conceive


27
27
the creation below through the intermediaries, the sovereign Kings of Thought,
Intercessors with a luminous Unseen:

In a sublimer and more daring soar
To the wide summit of the triple stairs
Bare steps climbed up like flaming rocks of gold
Burning their way to a pure absolute sky.
August and few the sovereign Kings of Thought
Have made of Space their wide all-seeing gaze
Surveying the enormous work of Time:
A breadth of all-containing Consciousness
Supported Being in a still embrace.
Intercessors with a luminous Unseen,
They capt in the long passage to the world
The imperatives of the creator Self
Obeyed by unknowing earth, by conscious heaven;
Their thoughts are partners in its vast control.
A great all-ruling Consciousness is there
And Mind unwitting serves a higher Power;
It is a channel, not the source of all.
The cosmos is no accident in Time;
There is a meaning in each play of Chance,
There is a freedom in each face of Fate.
A Wisdom knows and guides the mysteried world;
A Truth-gaze shapes its beings and events;
A Word self-born upon creation's heights,
Voice of the Eternal in the temporal spheres,
Prophet of the seeings of the Absolute,
Sows the Idea's significance in Form
And from that seed the growths of Time arise.
27


Vocabulary:
jradnu, mfn. (Pat. on P2.1-1 , 4 Vrtt. 1 and vi , 1 , 66) dropping or sprinkling
abundantly RV. AV.
jra, mf()n., quick, speedy, active RV. (Naigh. ii , 15); driving (with gen.) RV. i , 48 , 3 ;
m. quick movement (of the Soma stones) , v , 31 , 12
dnu, mfn. valiant, victor, conqueror; m. a class of demons (cf.dnava) RV. (f., i, 54, 7);
n. a fluid, drop, dew ({-naspat} m. du. of Mitr-Varu or of the Avins RV.
pinv, 1. P. , to cause to swell, distend to cause, to overflow or abound RV. AV. Br.;
{pinvate}, to swell, be distended, abound, overflow ib.
pinva, mfn. causing to swell or flow (see dnu-p-).

27
Savitri, p. 271



28
28


Hl 4lP HHlB- B4=l 4(-6 46*P4 79 4-t4 H4lT
6F4 |+|T H+ 466 4lP 79 |B-4- 9|(|4 |-6 + --\--

vm vsa suyjo vahantu yatramaya pa yantu arv

k
ghr tsya nirg nu vartate vm pa sndhava pradvi karanti / 5.062.04

4. Let horses perfectly yoked with their well-governed reins of light bear you
down to us; the form of the clarity follows in your coming and the Rivers flow in
the front of heaven.

Interpretation:
The transcendental Purity and wideness with its Harmony and Bliss, well
governed in power and knowledge, avsa suyujo vahantu yata-ramaya, are
invited now to come down into the lower hemisphere of the material body, upa
yantu arvk. And with them coming the beatitude of the clarity follows, and the
supreme rivers flow in front of the heaven, sindhava pradivi karanti, the
transcendental rivers enter the creation.

There is a wonderful passage in Savitri about the heavenly rivers of bliss and
luminous force pouring down and of the eagles of Omniscience descending
down from the Beyond:

Even on the struggling Nature left below
Strong periods of illumination came:
Lightnings of glory after glory burned,
Experience was a tale of blaze and fire,
Air rippled round the argosies of the Gods,
Strange riches sailed to him from the Unseen;
Splendours of insight filled the blank of thought,
Knowledge spoke to the inconscient stillnesses,
Rivers poured down of bliss and luminous force,
Visits of beauty, storm-sweeps of delight (cf. with Maruts)
Rained from the all-powerful Mystery above.
Thence stooped the eagles of Omniscience. (see in Appendix)
A dense veil was rent, a mighty whisper heard;
Repeated in the privacy of his soul,
A wisdom-cry from rapt transcendences
Sang on the mountains of an unseen world;
The voices that an inner listening hears


29
29
Conveyed to him their prophet utterances,
And flame-wrapped outbursts of the immortal Word
And flashes of an occult revealing Light
Approached him from the unreachable Secrecy.
28



Vocabulary:
arv

k, down;
nirij, f. a shining dress or ornament, any bright garment &c. RV.
pradiv,f. (fr.{div} , heaven; Nom. -dyaus) the third or highest heaven (in which
the Pitris are said to dwell) AV.; the fifth of seven heavens SkhBr.; mfn. (fr.
div, day [cf. Lat. diu]) existing from olden times, ancient RV. (-divas) ind. from of
old, long since, always, ever (nuprad-, as of old, as formerly) ib. AV.; (-divi) ind.
at all times, always, ever RV.

H+ ~6lP HP|6 4( 74lP 4|( 4 4=9l PlTl
+PF4-6l 6(l| 6 |PlBl 46T7lF4 H-6- + --\---

nu rut

m amti vrdhad urv

m barhr iva yju rkam

nmasvant dhr tadak

dhi grte mtr

sthe varusu ant / 5.062.05

5. Increasing the strength that comes to our ear of knowledge, guarding by the
sacrificial word
29
your wide realm
30
as if our seat of sacrifice, bringing obeisance,
holding fast to judgment, you take your seat in your home, O Mitra, within the
revealings of knowledge, O Varuna.

Interpretation:
Sri Aurobindo translates adhi garte sthe, as take your seat in your home.
There is an interesting suggestion in this play of words: to settle in ones own
home. It is as if Mitra and Varuna do not fully settled in their own home,
indicating that there is a place in this creation which is not fully occupied by the
Supreme. So they are invited to take their seat here in their own home. This
home was prepared by them for themselves in the process of evolution, and now
there is a time for them to settle here. Cf.: All this is for habitation by the Lord.
The world is His habitat, which He is to inhabit. Such an intrusion of the

28
Ibid p. 37

29
Yajur. The Rik is the word which brings with it the illumination, the Yajur the word
which guides the sacrificial action in accordance with the Rik.
30
Or, increasing and guarding the wide strength.


30
30
Supreme brings with it a power of a complete surrender and obeisance to it,
namasvant, and the power of upheld discrimination, dhta-daka. It pertains
and sustains from within all the revelations and expressions of knowledge, isu
anta.
Anu rutm amati vardhad urvm, can be also translated as: increasing the power
here from the wide region of the beyond which always follows after the
revelations of knowledge. The supreme guardians thus have settled within the
revelations of knowledge as the expressions or currents of consciousness, isu
anta. So every movement the knowledge is expressed it becomes a movement of
power, which is a characteristic of the Supramental manifestation.

Vocabulary:
rut, 1 mfn. hearing , listening; that which is heard, sound , noise;
amati, f. form , shape , splendour , luster; RV. VS.; f. want, indigence RV. VS. AV.; mfn.
poor, indigent RV.
dhtadaka, mfn. of collected mind , attentive or constant RV.
garta, m. a high seat, throne (of Mitra and Varua) RV.; ("a house" Naigh.) the seat of a
war-chariot , vi , 20 , 9 a table for playing at dice Nir. iii , 5.
, f. praise; cf. il, f. (closely connected with i and ir,) flow of speech, the earth, &c.

H4|4(F6l BT6 9F9l 4 lBl 46T7lF4 H-6-
l=l+l P HTl4Pl+l B(UFT |4- B( l + --\--\

kravihast suk te parasp

y tr

sthe varusu ant

r

jn katrm hr yamn sahsrastham bibhr tha sah dva / 5.062.06

6. With hands that spare not, protectors of the beyond for the doer of perfect
works whom you deliver and he dwells within the revealings of knowledge,
kings free from passion, together you uphold a thousand-pillared strength.

Interpretation:
The protectors of the Beyond, they spare not the one, who is perfectly offering
himself, whom they deliver in their revelations and expressions of knowledge,
upholding the strength in him conquering darkness, together they stay full of
peace, free from any agitation.

Sri Aurobindo describes how transcendental reality influenced the life and
consciousness of Asvapati, a man, who is a sukt, the doer of perfect works, in
the Vedic terms.

A fit companion of the timeless Kings,


31
31
Equalled with the godheads of the living Suns,
He mixed in the radiant pastimes of the Unborn,
Heard whispers of the Player never seen
And listened to his voice that steals the heart
And draws it to the breast of God's desire,
And felt its honey of felicity
Flow through his veins like the rivers of Paradise,
Made body a nectar-cup of the Absolute.
In sudden moments of revealing flame,
In passionate responses half-unveiled
He reached the rim of ecstasies unknown;
A touch supreme surprised his hurrying heart,
The clasp was remembered of the Wonderful,
And hints leaped down of white beatitudes.
Eternity drew close disguised as Love
And laid its hand upon the body of Time.
A little gift comes from the Immensitudes,
But measureless to life its gain of joy;
All the untold Beyond is mirrored there.
A giant drop of the Bliss unknowable
Overwhelmed his limbs and round his soul became
A fiery ocean of felicity;
He foundered drowned in sweet and burning vasts:
The dire delight that could shatter mortal flesh,
The rapture that the gods sustain he bore.
Immortal pleasure cleansed him in its waves
And turned his strength into undying power.
Immortality captured Time and carried Life.
31


Vocabulary:
akravi-hasta, mfn. not having bloody hands ["not having niggardly hands, not
close-fisted" Sy.] RV. v , 62 , 6.; a-kravi-hasta, the hands that spare not
according to SA.
kravis, n. raw flesh, carrion, RV i , 162 , 9 and 10, (?) blood, cf. in Slav. krov;
parasp, m. a protector, protecting RV. TBr.
trsthe, 1. A, tryate (Impv. -yatm, 2. sg.-yasva and trsva; pl.-yadhvam and
trdhvam RV. ; ep. trti, trtu, trhi ; aor. Subj. trsate, 2. du. trsthe RV.; inf.
trtum, MBh. &c.; ind. p. trtv BhP. ii, 7, 9) to protect, preserve, cherish,
defend, rescue from (gen. or abl.)
hya, Nom. A. -yate (only in hyaths RV. to be angry.
sahasra-stha, mfn. supported by a thousand columns RV.

31
Savitri p. 236


32
32
sth, f. the post or pillar or beam of a house, any post or stake or pillar or
column RV. &c. &c.; the trunk or stump of a tree Km.


|('4|+|T H4l HF4 FTl |4 Hl=6 |(-4 HHl=+l4
|+|P6l |6|-4 4l B+P P\4l H|t4F4 + --\--

hrayanirig yo asya sth

v bhrjate div av

janva
bhadr ktre nmit tlvile v sanma mdhvo dhigartiyasya / 5.062.07

7. Its form is of golden light, iron is its pillar and shines in heaven as if the swift
lightning;
32
in the happy field
33
it is shaped or in the field of the gleaming.
34

May we win possession of the sweet honey
35
which is in that home.

Interpretation:
The golden purity in the form of light of which the iron pillar is the support here
shines in Heaven as a lightning-whip which compels the horses (=forces) to run.
In the field of Bliss they are completely measured and in the field of the
gleaming Truth. May we win possession of that Honey of our higher Home!

Vocabulary:
ayas, iron, metal RV. &c.; an iron weapon (as an axe , &c.) RV.
avjan, f. a whip RV. v , 62 , 7; vi , 75 , 13.
tilvila, mf()n. fertile RV. v , 62 , 7;
adhi-gartya, mfn. being on the driver's seat RV. v , 62 , 7. higher home;


|('4-9P 79Bl -47l4 H4FTP 7|(6l B4F4
Hl l(l 46T |P 6P H6 H l H|(|6 |(|6 + --\--<

hrayarpam uso vuv yastham dit s

riyasya

rohatho varua mitra grtam ta cakthe diti dti ca / 5.062.08

32
Or, the Mare, the energy of the Horse of Life.
33
The Ananda, the Bliss-World.
34
The field of the gleaming of the Dawns, the world of the Light.
35
Madhu, the Soma.


33
33
8. To that home whose form is of the gold, whose pillars are of the iron, in the
breaking of the Dawn, in the uprising of the Sun you ascend, O Varuna, O Mitra,
and thence you behold the Infinite and the Finite.
36


Interpretation:
The mystery of that home whose form is of the gold and pillars are of the iron is
the secret of all creation. In this mysterious home where the Dawn is breaking
from and the Sun is uprising to. Into this home Varuna and Mitra ascend, from
which they see the Infinite Mother, Aditi, the par prakt, and the finite,
dividing Mother, Diti, of the apar prakt. Our consciousness is thus becoming
aware of both manifestations.
Originally the Adityas cannot see the both. They see only Aditis realms of the
Transcendental, but through manifestation and the Sacrifice they can rise in man
to the height of the Supreme Purusha, Purushottama of the Gita, where they can
perceive both the realms simultaneously, and this for them is a rising in
consciousness.

Vocabulary:
vuu, Loc of vi-ui, braking of the down.
garta, m. a high seat, throne (of Mitra and Varua) RV.; ("a house" Naigh.) the seat of a
war-chariot , vi , 20 , 9 a table for playing at dice Nir. iii , 5.

4( 4 |(U +l|6|4 B(l+ H|7 HP 4+F4 l9l
6+ +l |Pl46Tl4 H|47 |B9lB-6l |=l4l B- F4lP + --\--

yd bhiha n

tivdhe sudn chidra rma bhuvanasya gop

tna no mitrvaruv avia ssanto jigv

sa siyma / 5.062.09

9. That bliss of yours which is most large and full and without a gap, O strong
guardians of the world, so that none can pierce through and beyond it, by that
cherish us, Mitra and Varuna; may we be victorious, who would take possession
of that peace.

Interpretation:
That foundation, arma, which is the greatest and not to be pierced, which has no
gap, by that you, O Mitra and Varuna, support us in our growth, may we be
desirous to gain it, may we have it conquered (occupied)!


36
Aditi and Diti.



34
34
Vocabulary:
bahiha, mfn. (superl. of bahula P 2.6-4, 157) strongest, most abundant
Vocabulary:
bahiha, mfn. (superl. of bahula P 2.6-4, 157) strongest, most abundant, most RV.;
vidh, mfn. (ifc.) piercing, penetrating; na-ati-vidhe, not to pierce, Dat. = Inf.;
sudnu, mfn. pouring out or bestowing abundantly, bounteous, munificent (said of
various gods) RV. AV.
avia, Imper from av, to protect, to nourish.
san, 1. P., 8. P. A1. to gain, acquire, obtain as a gift, possess , enjoy RV. AV. Br.; to gain
for another, procure, bestow, give, distribute RV.; (A1.) to be successful, be granted or
fulfilled;
sisant, Desir. from san, to wish to acquire or obtain RV. TS. AV.
jigvas, Perf. from ji, to conquer.

Appendix

On the eagles of Omniscience and the rivers of the Beyond.

Rivers poured down of bliss and luminous force,
Visits of beauty, storm-sweeps of delight
Rained from the all-powerful Mystery above.
Thence stooped the eagles of Omniscience.

It is interesting for us to compare here the concept of the Transcendental with its
intruders from above into the lower hemisphere in two Vedic symbols of waters
and eagles, or birds, which Sri Aurobindo is using in his Savitri:

In the verses dedicated to the Vac in the RV. 1.164 the Drghatam
Aucathya says:

gaur

r mimya salil

ni tkat kapad dvipd s

ctupad
a

pad nvapad babhv sahsrkar param voman 1.164.41

She has created the streams of luminous waters, the Word, the
Strongest among Lights (gauri).
She has fashioned all the creatures as one, two and four footed, who
have become the eight and nine footed! The thousand aksharas [of
the Word are] in the highest heaven!
37


tsy samudr

dhi v karanti tna jvanti prada ctasra

tta karati akra td vvam pa jvati 1.164.42


37
ibid: Forming the waterfloods, the buffalo hath lowed, onefooted or
twofooted or four footed, she, Who hath become eightfooted or hath
got nine feet, the thousand syllabled in the sublimest heaven.


35
35
It is from her, the All-creating Word, that the waters of the upper
Ocean flow down in all directions. It is by that [movement] all live in
every corner of the world.
It is from that [movement of the Word] that Unchangeable is
changing, (or Being is becoming). It is from that [movement] that all
Universe lives.

catv

ri v

k primit pad

ni t

ni vidur brhma

y mana
gh tr

i nhit ngayanti tur

ya vc manuy

vadanti 1.164.45

The Word has been measured in four quarters. Those quarters are
known to the knowers of the Word, brhmana, who possess also the
power of the Mind, mania.
38

In the hidden place the three are established, which do not move.
And the forth one men speak.
39


kr niy

na hraya supar

ap vsn dvam t patanti

t

vavr tran sdand r tsya

d d ghr tna pr thiv

v udyate 1.164.47

Dark the descent,[and] golden the birds; thus wearing the robes of
the waters they are rising to heaven and again they return from that
Seat of the Truth, and all the earth is moistened with their golden
clarity.
40


Who are these golden birds descending into the darkness and
wearing the form of waters (apas)? Why do the fly up to the sky
again and again return to the earth to moisten it with a clarified
butter (ghta)?
It is on the way up they wear the waters of our offering, and on the
way back they carry the clarified butter to nourish the growth of
Agni, the luminous dweller within the substance. They descend into
the darkness as shining birds from heaven and they ascent carrying
our unillumined substance of consciousness (apas) for transformation
up to heaven.
41

It is interesting to note in this regard another famous hymn where
the symbol of the bird, pataga is mentioned again in the terms of
speech and mind:

38
This will become a reference to the later concept of fourfold Word:
vaikhar, madhyam, payant and par vk.
39
Griffiths translation: Speech hath been measured out in four divisions,
the Brahmans who have understanding know them. Three kept in close
concealment cause no motion; of speech, men speak only the fourth
division.
40
ibid. Dark the descent: the birds are goldencoloured; up to the heaven
they fly robed in the waters. Again descend they from the seat of Order,
and all the earth is moistened with their fatness.
41
Cf. the concept of apas and ambhas, as the lower and upper oceans,
respectively in the AitUp 1.1.2,3


36
36

RV 10.177
patagm aktm surasya myy hr d

payanti mnas vipacta

samudr ant kavyo v cakate mrcnm padm ichanti vedhsa
10.177.01

This Bird the wise see (discover) in their heart by the Creative Force
of Maya of the Asura, by the Thought.
Inside the Ocean the seers distinguish it clearly; those who are brave
are seeking the Seat of Light!

patag v

cam mnas bibharti t

gandharv avadad grbhe ant

t

dytamn svaryam man

m r tsya pad kavyo n pnti 10.177.02

This Bird, the Sun, carries the Word by the Thought. It is the Word
that Gandharva spoke first seated within the Embryo.
The shining heavenly Word, full of Thought, the seers always protect
in the place of the Truth.

paya gop

m nipadyamnam

ca pr ca pathbhi crantam
s sadhr

c s vcr vsna

varvarti bhvaneu ant 10.177.03

I saw him, the Protector of Knowledge, uncreated, moving on his
paths here and beyond. He moves in oneness, and in maniness; a
luminous dweller within rotates within the worlds.
42


42
Commentary of Sayana on RV10.177 is quite interesting: The Sun
carries the Word of all living creatures by his own Thought, holds and
supports them, when He takes a form of Antarymin, sends the Word
forward that is the meaning originated in heaven, and is full of Thought,
which means that it is a Master of Thought, the Creator of Delight, as it
were. Such a Word the seers, the knowers of Shastra always protect and
cherish in the Place of Truth, in the place of the Supreme Spirit.
42
Griffiths translation.
And thus sent by the Sun the Word [goes] in the Embryo, inside the body,
and the vital force, called Gandharva, spoke this luminous Word, shining
and heavenly, for it is originated in heaven, and is full of Thought, which
means that it is a Master of Thought, the Creatrix of Delight, as it were.
Such a Word the seers, the knowers of Shastra always protect and cherish
in the Place of Truth, in the place of the Supreme Spirit.


37
37
RV 5.63
i: arcann treya; devat: mitrvaru; chanda: jagat

+6F4 l9l4 H| |6Ul Bt4PlTl 9P -4lP|+
4P H |Pl46Tl4l 44 6FP 4|7 PP6 |9-46 |(4- + --\(-{

BBl=l4 HF4 4+F4 l=l |Pl46Tl |4( F4Hl
4|7 4l ll HP6t4P P( Hl4l9|4l |4 |-6 6-44- + --\(--

BBl=l 7l 49 l |(4B 96l 9|-4l |Pl46Tl |49Tl
|| HH 79 |6Ul 4 Hl 494l HBF4 Pl44l + --\(-(

Pl4l 4l |Pl46Tl |(|4 |~6l B4l 74l|6H |6 |P Hl4P
6P HHT 474l (l |(|4 9=-4 -Bl PP-6 6 + --\(-

4V6 P66- H BG Hl + |Pl46Tl |4|79
=l|B |l |4 |-6 6-44l |(4- BBl=l 94 Bl + 76P + --\(--

4l B |Pl46Tl4 l 46lP 9=-4H |l 4(|6 |t49lP6lP
HHl 4B6 P66- B Pl44l Hl 4946P H6TlP H9BP + --\(-\

PTl |Pl46Tl |49|6l 6l HBF4 Pl44l
+6+ |4HP 4+ |4 l=- B4P Hl tl |(|4 |-4 P + --\(-



38
38

The Givers of the Rain

Mitra and Varuna are by their united universality and harmony the guardians of
the divine Truth and its divine Law eternally perfect in the ether of our supreme
being; thence they rain down the abundance of the heavens and its bliss upon the
favoured soul. Seers in man of that world of Truth, as they are by their
guardianship of its law rulers of all this becoming, they give us its rain of
spiritual wealth and immortality. The Life-powers range with the voice of the
truth-seeking thought through earth and heaven and the two Kings come to their
cry with the brilliant clouds full of the creative waters. It is by the Maya, the
divine truth-knowledge of the Lord, that they thus rain down heaven; that divine
knowledge is the Sun, the Light, the weapon of Mitra and Varuna ranging
abroad to destroy the ignorance. At first the Sun, the body of the Truth, is
concealed in the very storm of its outpourings and only the sweetness of their
streaming into the life is felt; but the Maruts as Life-Powers and Thought-Powers
range abroad seeking in all the worlds of our being for the brilliant rays of the
concealed knowledge to be gathered as a shining wealth; the voice of the Rain is
full of the flashings of the Light and the movement of the divine Waters; its
clouds become robes for the Life-Powers. Through it all by the formative
knowledge of the mighty Master of Truth and by the law of the Truth, the two
kings maintain the divine workings in us, governing by the Truth all our being,
and finally set in its sky the Sun, now revealed, as a chariot of the richly varied
splendours of the knowledge, the chariot of the journey of the spirit to the
highest heavens.

+6F4 l9l4 H| |6Ul Bt4PlTl 9P -4lP|+
4P H |Pl46Tl4l 44 6FP 4|7 PP6 |9-46 |(4- + --\(-{

tasya gopv dhi tihatho rtha styadharm param vomani
ym tra mitrvaru

vatho yuv tsmai vr r mdhumat pinvate div 5.063.01

1. Guardians of the Truth, you ascend your car and the law of the Truth is yours
in the supreme ether.
43
He whom here you cherish, Masters of the wideness and
the harmony, for him increases full of the honey the rain of heaven.

Interpretation:

43
The infinity of the superconscient being.


39
39
Masters of the wideness and the harmony Sri Aurobindo translates Varuna and
Mitra. Man, whom you here avathe, increase, make grow, support in his
evolutionary growth, the Rain of Heaven overflows with its fullness of bliss. For
you are the Guardians of the Truth, tasya gopau, who ascend their car in the
highest heaven of the Supreme Being. It is from there you bring the fullness of
the Supreme Ananda and pour onto the cherished soul of man.


Vocabulary:
pinvate, to swell, be distended, abound, overflow ib;
avathe, you two support, make grow, protect.

BBl=l4 HF4 4+F4 l=l |Pl46Tl |4( F4Hl
4|7 4l ll HP6t4P P( Hl4l9|4l |4 |-6 6-44- + --\(--

samr

jv asy bhvanasya rjatho mtrvaru vidthe suvard

vr v r

dho amr tatvm mahe dy

vpr thiv

v caranti tanyva 5.063.02

2. Emperors,
44
you rule over this world of our becoming, O Mitra and Varuna, in
the getting of knowledge you are seers of the realm of Light; we desire from you
the rain, the felicitous wealth, the immortality, and lo! the Thunderers
45
range
abroad through earth and heaven.

Interpretation:
You are the two Sovereigns of this Universe, you rule over it equally here and
beyond. O Mitra and Varuna, it is you who discern the Supreme Heaven, Svar, in
our searching for the Truth, in our battle here we seek your rain of Grace and
shining wealth and Immortality [as] the Maruts, who are moving and building
up in thought and feeling all that resembles the Truth, who are thundering the
Word invoking the Truth, moving all over heaven and earth in search for the
Truth!

Vocabulary:
vidatha, n. knowledge, wisdom (esp.) "knowledge given to others", i.e. instruction,
direction, order , arrangement, disposition, rule, command (also pl.) RV.; to impart
knowledge, give instruction, rule, govern; a meeting, assembly (either for deliberating or

44
Samr, having perfect kingship over the subjective and objective existence.
45
The Maruts, Life-Powers and Thought-Powers who find out the light of truth for all
our activities. The word may also mean formers or builders.


40
40
for the observance of festive or religious rites i.e.) council, community, association; a
host, army, body of warriors (esp. applied to the Maruts) RV.; war , fight ib.
tanyu, tanayitnu, mfn. (= stan-) roaring, thundering;
tan, cl. 1. 10., to believe in Dhtup. "to assist" or "to afflict with pain" ib.; 2 (=stan) cl.
4. tanyati, to resound, roar; aor. atAyi, to extend, spread, be diffused (as light) over,
shine, extend towards, reach to RV.; to be protracted, continue, endure; to stretch (a
cord), extend or bend (a bow), spread, spin out, weave RV. &c.
marut, m. pl. (prob. the "flashing or shining ones"; cf. marIci) the storm-gods (Indra's
companions and sometimes the gods or deities in general; said in the Veda to be the
sons of Rudra and Prishni q.v. , or the children of heaven or of ocean; and described as
armed with golden weapons i.e. lightnings and thunderbolts, as having iron teeth and
roaring like lions, as residing in the north, as riding in golden cars drawn by ruddy
horses; they are reckoned in Naigh. V, 5 among the gods of the middle sphere, and in
RV. viii , 96 , 8 are held to be three times sixty in number; in the later literature they are
the children of Diti, either seven or seven times seven in number, and are sometimes
said to be led by Mtarvan) RV. &c. &c.


BBl=l 7l 49 l |(4B 96l 9|-4l |Pl46Tl |49Tl
|| HH 79 |6Ul 4 Hl 494l HBF4 Pl44l + --\(-(

samr

j ugr

vr abh

divs pt pr thivy

mitr

vru vcaran
citrbhir abhrar pa tihatho rva dy

varayatho surasya myy 5.063.03

3. Emperors, strong Bulls of the abundance, Masters of earth and heaven, O
Mitra and Varuna, universal in your workings, you approach their cry with your
clouds of varied light and you rain down Heaven by the power of the
knowledge
46
of the Mighty One.
47


Intepretation:
You two, O Mitra and Varuna, approach our Call with your Rainy Clouds full of
Light, making Heaven pour onto us, by the Knowledge-Power of the Great and
Mighty One.

There is an interesting passage in Savitri, p. 627, using similar imagery of the
Vedic Maruts, as storm gods, revealing a deeper knowledge of relation between
Thought and Word, Light and Sound, Sight and Hearing :


46
Maya, the creative knowledge-will of the Deva.
47
Asura, a word used in the Veda as in the Avesta for the Deva (Ahuramazda), but also
for the gods, His manifestations; it is only in a few hymns that it is used for the dark
Titans, by another and fictitious derivation, a-sura, the not-luminous, the not-gods.



41
41
On heights unreached by mind's most daring soar,
Upon a dangerous edge of failing Time
The soul draws back into its deathless Self;
Man's knowledge becomes God's supernal Ray.
There is the mystic realm whence leaps the power
Whose fire burns in the eyes of seer and sage;
A lightning flash of visionary sight,
It plays upon an inward verge of mind:
Thought silenced gazes into a brilliant Void.
A voice comes down from mystic unseen peaks:
A cry of splendour from a mouth of storm,
It is the voice that speaks to night's profound,
It is the thunder and the flaming call.

A spirit within looks into the Eternal's eyes.
It hears the Word to which our hearts were deaf,
It sees through the blaze in which our thoughts grew blind;
It drinks from the naked breasts of glorious Truth, (tam pibantau suktasya loke)
It learns the secrets of eternity.
Thus all was plunged into the riddling Night,
Thus all is raised to meet a dazzling Sun.

Pl4l 4l |Pl46Tl |(|4 |~6l B4l 74l|6H |6 |P Hl4P
6P HHT 474l (l |(|4 9=-4 -Bl PP-6 6 + --\(-

my

vm mitrvaru div rit

ryo jyti carati citrm

yudham
tm abhra vr iy

ghatho div prjanya draps

mdhumanta rate 5.063.04

4. This is your knowledge, O Mitra and Varuna, that is lodged in heaven; it is the
Sun, it is the Light; it ranges abroad as your rich and varied weapon. You hide it
in heaven with the cloud and with the raining. O Rain, full of the honey start
forth thy streamings.

Interpretation:
And this is your Maya, Knowledge-Power, which abides in Heaven: the Sun and
the Light are Her Creations, moving as the weapon full of light of consciousness
it comes down into this creation; and you two hide it by the fullness of your
waters carried in the clouds. The steams of Bliss start to pour down, O Rain!


42
42
The two Kings hide this weapon of light (lightning) within the clouds pouring
down the blissful waters of delight. (See the appendix on Maya and Spy-Rays of
the Sun)


4V6 P66- H BG Hl + |Pl46Tl |4|79
=l|B |l |4 |-6 6-44l |(4- BBl=l 94Bl + 76P + --\(--

rtha yujate marta ubh sukh

ro n mitrvaru gviiu
rjsi citr

v caranti tanyvo div samrj pyas na ukatam 5.063.05

5. The Life-Powers yoke their happy car for the bliss, even as might a hero for
battle, O Mitra and Varuna, in their seekings for the herds of Light; thundering
they range the varied worlds, and you pour out on us, rulers imperial, the water
of Heaven.

Interpretation:
The Maruts yoke their perfect car, as the Warrior in his desire for the battle (or
search of light) gavisiu. They move in all directions in search of Bliss in the
varied inner spaces, while you, O Sovereigns, pour out on us the waters of
Heaven as the sweet and nourishing milk!

Vocabulary:
gavii, f. desire, eagerness, ardour, fervour RV.; desire for fighting, ardour of battle,
battle RV.
payas, n. any fluid or juice, (esp.) milk, water, rain, semen, virile, (met.) vital spirit,
power, strength RV.

4l B |Pl46Tl4 l 46lP 9=-4H |l 4(|6 |t49lP6lP
HHl 4B6 P66- B Pl44l Hl 4946P H6TlP H9BP + --\(-\

v

ca s mitrvaruv rvatm parjnya citr

vadati tvmatm
abhr

vasata marta s myy dy

varayatam aru

m arepsam 5.063.06

6. O Mitra and Varuna, the Rain speaks its language
48
rich and varied and full of
the light and the movement; the Life-Powers have put on your clouds for

48
Here we see the subjective sense of the thunder in the symbol of the storm; it is the
outcrashing of the word of the Truth, the Shabda, as the lightning is the outflashing of its
sense.


43
43
raiment. Utterly by the knowledge you rain down Heaven ruddy-shining and
sinless.

Interpretation:
Parjanya speaks well his Word of light and substance and power! The Maruts
put on the clouds full of Heavenly waters! O Mitra and Varuna, by your
Knowledge-Power of the Supreme pour out on us the Heaven, shining with the
golden red and spotless!


Vocabulary:
irvat, mfn. possessing food, full of food, granting drink or refreshment, satiating, giving
enjoyment, endowed with provisions, comfortable RV.;
tvimat, mfn. vehemently excited, vehement, energetic RV.; shining, brilliant, beautiful;
arepas, mfn. spotless RV. VS. AV.
parjanya, rain personified or the god of rain (often identified with Indra) RV. &c. &c.


PTl |Pl46Tl |49|6l 6l HBF4 Pl44l
+6+ |4HP 4+ |4 l=- B4P Hl tl |(|4 |-4 P + --\(-

dhrma mitrvaru vipacit vrat

rakethe surasya myy

r tna vvam bhvana v rjatha s

ryam

dhattho div ctriya rtham 5.063.07

7. O Mitra and Varuna illumined in consciousness, by the Law, by the
knowledge of the Mighty One you guard the workings;
49
by the Truth you
govern widely all the world of our becoming; you set the Sun in heaven, a
chariot of various splendour.


Appendix
I On Maya

This power was known to the Vedic seers by the name of Maya. Maya meant for
them the power of infinite consciousness to comprehend, contain in itself and

49
Vratni, called the Aryan or divine workings, those of the divine law of the Truth to be
revealed in man. The Dasyu or un-Aryan, whether human or superhuman, is he who is
void of these diviner workings, opposes them in his darkened consciousness and tries
to destroy them in the world. The Lords of Darkness are therefore called Dasyus, the
Destroyers.



44
44
measure out, that is to say, to formfor form is delimitationName and Shape
out of the vast illimitable Truth of infinite existence. It is by Maya that static truth
of essential being becomes ordered truth of active being,or, to put it in more
metaphysical language, out of the supreme being in which all is all without
barrier of separative consciousness emerges the phenomenal being in which all is
in each and each is in all for the play of existence with existence, consciousness
with consciousness, force with force, delight with delight.
This play of all in each and each in all is concealed at first from us by the mental
play or the illusion of Maya which persuades each that he is in all but not all in
him and that he is in all as a separated being not as a being always inseparably
one with the rest of existence. Afterwards we have to emerge from this error into
the supramental play or the truth of Maya where the each and the all coexist
in the inseparable unity of the one truth and the multiple symbol.

The lower, present and deluding mental Maya has first to be embraced, then to
be overcome; for it is God's play with division and darkness and limitation,
desire and strife and suffering in which He subjects Himself to the Force that has
come out of Himself and by her obscure suffers Himself to be obscured.

That other Maya concealed by this mental has to be overpassed, then
embraced; for it is God's play of the infinities of existence, the splendours of
knowledge, the glories of force mastered and the ecstasies of love illimitable
where He emerges out of the hold of Force, holds her instead and fulfils in her
illumined that for which she went out from Him at the first.
50


We can clearly see here two movements of Maya, which have to be dealt with
differently:
1) Maya as His play with division and limitation, where the Supreme subjects
himself finally to the Darkness of his own inconscient force, and becomes
obscure. It refers to the involutionary stage of creation, the fall of the first
Supreme Emanations and the plunge of the Supreme into the darkness of
Inconscient, the Sacrifice of the Purusha, or the Holocaust of the Divine
Mother, tmantmnam abhisamvivea (TaitAr.1.23) and His desire to
become many: bahu sym TaittUp 2.; to become another sa dvityam
aichat. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

See also in Savitri p.140:
When all was plunged in the negating Void,
Non-Being's night could never have been saved
If Being had not plunged into the dark


50
LD, p.115


45
45
Savitri p.454:
Once in the immortal boundlessness of Self,
In a vast of Truth and Consciousness and Light
The soul looked out from its felicity
It saw the Eternal, lived in the Infinite.
Then, curious of a shadow thrown by Truth,
It strained towards some otherness of self,
It was drawn to an unknown Face peering through night.

2) The second movement of Maya is evolutionary and in its origin belongs to the
second involution of the Secondary Emanations, where He emerges out of
the hold of Force, holds her instead and fulfils in her illumined that for which
she went out from Him at the first. It is an emergence out of the darkness of
material inconscient of the Psychic Being and the gradual transformation of it
into its higher prototype the divine light, bliss, truth and life. It is the
movement of Redemption for which the plunge, the sacrifice of the Conscious
Soul was made in the first place.

This descent, this sacrifice of the Purusha, the Divine Soul submitting itself to
Force and Matter so that it may inform and illuminate them, is the seed of
redemption of this world of Inconscience and Ignorance. (Synthesis of Yoga,
p.106)

The first two quotations from the Veda, which Sri Aurobindo put at the
beginning of this chapter on the Divine Maya, reflect these two views on Maya:

tad in nu asya vabhasya dhenor nmabhir mamire sakmya go
anyad anyad asuryam vasn ni myino mamire rpam asmin
51
(RV III. 38. 7)

By the Names of the Lord and hers they shaped and measured the force of the
Mother of Light; wearing might after might of that Force as a robe the lords of
Maya shaped out Form in this Being.

myvino mamire asya myay ncakasa pitaro garbham dadhu (RV IX. 83. 3).

The Masters of Maya shaped all by His Maya; the Fathers who have divine
vision set Him within as a child that is to be born.

These two quotations reflect the double view on Maya on the involutionary and
evolutionary scale, as it were. The first one speaks about a gradual formation of
the Form of Being out of Supreme light of the Mother, layer after layer building

51
sakmya, n. that which belongs to anything , peculiar nature ib.



46
46
up all the forms of Being upto the material inconscient, anyad anyad asryam vasn
ni myino mamire rpam asmin (RV III. 38. 7), and the second speaks about the
emergence and growth of the Supreme as the divine child from within that form
of the material inconscient, myvino mamire asya myay ncakasa pitaro garbham
dadhu (RV IX. 83. 3).

These two movements should have different metaphysical and psychological
treatments, as it were, if one wants to overcome the influence of Maya:
1) the first from above the head is to embraced all with a perfect equality and
thus overcome influence of Maya in the mind;
2) the second from within the heart, the Psychic Being, is to overcome all
what is non-divine and then to embrace the Divine. (aspiration)

Sri Aurobindo is using word Maya in his Savitri six times. See for instance on
page 600:

But Maya is a veil of the Absolute;
A Truth occult has made this mighty world:
The Eternal's wisdom and self-knowledge act
In ignorant Mind and in the body's steps.
The Inconscient is the Superconscient's sleep.
An unintelligible Intelligence
Invents creation's paradox profound;
Spiritual thought is crammed in Matter's forms,
Unseen it throws out a dumb energy
And works a miracle by a machine.
All here is a mystery of contraries:
Darkness a magic of self-hidden Light,
Suffering some secret rapture's tragic mask
And death an instrument of perpetual life.

II On the battle and the spies or rays of the Sun.

In The Secret of the Veda, p. 236, Sri Aurobindo comments on the battle between
Gods led by Indra and Dasyus:

The battle takes place not on earth but on the other shore of the Antariksha, the
Dasyus are driven out of heaven by the flames of the thunderbolt, they circle
round the earth and are cast out of both heaven and earth; for they can find no
place in either heaven or earth, all being now full of the greatness of Indra, nor
can conceal themselves anywhere from his lightnings because the Sun with its


47
47
rays gives him spies whom he sets all round and in the brightness of those rays
the Panis are discovered.
This can be no description of an earthly battle between Aryan and Dravidian
tribes; neither can the lightning be the physical lightning since that has nothing
to do with the destruction of the powers of Night and the milking of the cows of
the Dawn out of the darkness. It is clear then that these non-sacrificers, these
haters of the word who are incompetent even to think it are not any human
enemies of the Aryan cult. They are the powers that strive for possession of
heaven and earth in man himself; they are demons and not Dravidians.
It is noteworthy that they strive, but fail to attain the limit of earth and
heaven; we may suppose that these powers seek without the word or the
sacrifice to attain to the higher world beyond earth and heaven which can be
conquered only by the word and the sacrifice. They seek to possess the Truth
under the law of the Ignorance; but they are unable to attain to the limit of earth
or heaven; only Indra and the Gods can so exceed the formula of mind, life and
body after filling all three with their greatness.



48
48
RV 5-64
i: arcann treya; devat: mitrvaru; chanda: anuup, 7
pakti

46T 4l |Hl(BP +l |P (4lP(
9| =4 4ll =-4l Bl F4TP + --\-{
6l 4l(4l B6+l 9 4-6P HFPl H6
H4 |( =l4 4l |4HlB lB =l4 + --\--
4+ + +P H*4l |6P |PF4 4l4l 9l
HF4 |94F4 HP'4 H|(Bl+F4 B| + --\-(
44l-4l |Pl46Tl9P 4lP +l
4( 4 Pl+l F6l6Tl F9B + --\-
Hl +l |P B(l|6| 46TH BF Hl
F4 4 Pl+l BGl+l 4B + --\--
44 +l 49 46T 4( |4-
76 Tl 4l=Bl64 T6 l4 F4F64 + --\-\
77-t4l P 4=6l (4 6HJ|4
B6 BlP + (|F6| Hl 9(| l46 +l
|4H6l4 H +l+BP + --\-





49
49
The Leaders to the Blissful Home.

The Rishi invokes the Lords of the infinite wideness and harmony whose arms
embrace the soul's highest plane of the Truth and Bliss, to extend to him those
arms of awakened consciousness and knowledge, so that he may have their all-
embracing delight. He aspires by the path of Mitra to the joy of his harmonies in
which there is no wound nor hurt; conceiving and holding the highest by the
power of the illumining word, he would aspire to an increase in that plane, the
proper home of the gods. Let the two great gods create in his being that wide
world of their divine strength and vastness; let them bring to him its plenitude
and felicity in the dawning of the divine light and the divine force.

46T 4l |Hl(BP +l |P (4lP(
9| =4 4ll =-4l Bl F4TP + --\-{

vrua vo ri

dasam r c

mitr havmahe
pri vrajva bhuvr jaganv

s svararam 5.064.01

1. Varuna, destroyer of the foe, and Mitra we call to you by the word of
illumination; their arms encompass the world of the power of Light
52
as if cast
around the pens of the shining herds.

Interpretation:
We call your Varuna as the destroyer of enemies [and] Mitra by the luminous
word!
For they went around with their hands embracing the luminous world of power
as if around the cow pens [where the light is hidden in the Darkness]!

Vocabulary:
ridas mfn. (prob. fr. ria+adas, from [ad]) devouring or destroying enemies RV.
vraja, m. (n. only RV.5.6.7 ; ifc. f. ; fr. vj) a fold, stall, cow-pen, cattle-shed,
enclosure or station of herdsmen RV. &c. &c.
svarara, m. lord of heaven (applied to Agni, the sun, Soma &c.) RV.; n. bright space,
ether RV.


6l 4l(4l B6+l 9 4-6P HFPl H6

52
Swarnara. Swar is the solar world of the Truth and the herds are the rays of its solar
illuminations, therefore it is compared to the pens of these shining Vedic cattle.



50
50
H4 |( =l4 4l |4HlB lB =l4 + --\--

t

bhv sucetn pr yantam asm rcate

va h jrya v vvsu k

su jguve 5.064.02

2. Stretch out your arms of awakened knowledge
53
to the human being when he
chants to you the illumining word; your bliss adorable shall reach through all
our earths.
54


Interpretation:
Those far reaching hands of yours perfectly conscious stretch forth for the one
who flames in the prayer of aspiration.
Your loving intimacy should constantly sound (echo and reecho/vibrate/be
present as active awareness) on all the levels of our being.


Vocabulary:
sucetun, of perfect consciousness/awareness; ind. (instr. of -cetu) with benevolence
or favour, graciously RV.
bhava, m. (P2. 7-1, 39 Vrtt. 1 Pat.) = 1. {bhu}, the arm (also n. ShBr.)
pra-yam-tam, Impr, dual, 2 pers. stretch forward;
jrya, n. (fr. jra) intimacy RV. v , 64 , 2 [mfn. "to be praised", fr. 3. j Sy. to call]
jog, mfn. (gu) praising RV. x , 53.
gu, cl. 1 A. gavate, to sound; Intens. A. (1. and 3. sg. joguve, p.joguvna) "to cause to
sound", proclaim RV.1,61 ,14
eva, mfn. (prob. fr. vi, and connected with avas and iva) dear, precious RV. AV.

4+ ++P H *4l |6P |PF4 4l4l 9l
HF4 |94F4 HP'4 H|(Bl+F4 B| + --\-(

yn nnm aiy

gtim mitrsya yym path

sya priysya rmai hisnasya sacire 5.064.03


3. May I go by the path of the Friend
55
that even now I may attain to the goal
56


53
The epithet shows how entirely symbolic are the bodies and members of the Gods as
well as their other physical belongings, weapons, chariots, horses.
54
All the planes of our being.
55
Mitra, who creates the perfect and unhurt harmonies of our higher, divine existence.


51
51
of my journey; so men cling firmly to the bliss of that Beloved in whom there is
no wounding.

Interpretation:
If I shall reach today the Goal then may I walk it by the Path of Mitra.
In the safe place of this beloved, who does no harm, men seek their refuge and
oneness.

Vocabulary:
sac/sac, to be associated or united with, have to do with, be familiar with, associate
one's self with (instr.) RV. AV.; be possessed of., enjoy (instr. or acc.) ib.; to take part
or participate in, suffer, endure (instr.) RV.; to belong to, be attached or devoted to,
serve, follow, seek, pursue, favour, assist (acc.) RV. AV. VS.; to he connected with; to
be together RV. AV.; to go after, follow, accompany, adhere or be attached to (acc.) RV.

44l-4l |Pl46Tl9P 4lP +l
4( 4 Pl+l F6l6Tl F9B + --\-

yuv

bhym mitrvaru upam dhym r c

yd dha kye maghn stotr

ca sprdhse 5.064.04


4. O Mitra and Varuna, may my thought hold by the illumining word that
highest which is your possession, so that it shall aspire
57
to the home of the
masters of plenitude for them and for men who affirm you.

Interpretation:
By you two, O Mitra and Varuna, [with your help and assistance] may I hold
within my mind the Supreme by the luminous Word of the Hymn that it may
strive and aspire for its Home of the Masters of Plenitudes and of those who
affirm you!
What is interesting here is that the thought is to hold by the illumining word the
highest, which will make it thus aspire for it, or to strive towards it. In other
words, we cannot concentrate on the highest, for we do not have here the
highest, it is somewhere else. The only way how we can do it is by the Word, the
illumining word, the hymn of the Rishi, who has realized the higher state of

56
Gati. The word is still used for the spiritual or supraterrestrial status gained by man's
conduct or efforts upon earth. But it may also mean the movement to the goal or the
way, May I even now attain to the Way, go by the path of Mitra.
57
That is, manifesting in men it shall strive to raise them up to its own proper station,
the Truth-plane.


52
52
consciousness and has made this hymn as a means or a vehicle for this purpose:
to create an aspiration within the self of man to strive towards this higher home
of the masters of plenitude and thus to do the Work of the Sacrifice for both: the
Gods and men, who affirm them here on earth. It is by illumining Word that we
make our Thought strive towards the Divine. By the word affirming the Divine
in thought we can aspire in our thinking towards the higher realizations.
Therefore Panis and Dasyus hate the word, for it is with the Word that we can
change the level of consciousness.

Vocabulary:
dheym, Ved. Pot. from dh, May I hold; dheya, mfn. to be held or taken &c.;
upama, mf()n. uppermost, highest most excellent, eminent, best RV. AV.; nearest,
next, first RV.
kaya, mfn. dwelling, residing RV.; an abode, dwelling-place, seat, house;
sprdhase, Ved. Inf. to compete, to strive, to aspire by SA; sprdh, to emulate,
compete, rival, vie or cope with, contend or struggle for (loc.) RV.; vi-spardhas, mfn.
(spardh; cf. vi-spardh) emulating, vying, envious RV. (Sy. "free from emulation") VS.

Hl +l |P B(l|6| 46TH BF Hl
F4 4 Pl+l BGl+l 4B + --\--

no mitra sudtbhir vrua ca sadhstha

suv kye maghn skhn ca vr dhse 5.064.05

5. O Mitra, come to us with thy perfect givings and Varuna in the world of our
session, for increase in their own home of the masters of plenitude
58
and for
increase of your companions.

Interpretation:
Come to us, O Mitra, with your flaming brightness, and Varuna to the world of
these sacrificial gatherings!
In your own home of the Lords of the Plenitudes and Friends for a growth and
increase.

Vocabulary:
sudti, f. bright flame RV. mfn. flaming, shining, brilliant RV. TS.
vdhase, Ved. Inf., to increase, augment, strengthen, cause to prosper or thrive RV. AV.
sadhastha, (sadha-) mfn. "standing together", present RV. AV. n. "place where people
stand together", place of meeting, any place, spot, abode, home, region, world ib. VS.

58
The gods. Swar is the own house of the Gods.


53
53
44 +l 49 46T 4( |4-
76 Tl 4l=Bl64 T6 l4 F4F64 + --\-\

yuv no yu varua katrm br hc ca bibhr th
ur o v

jastaye kr t ry suastye 5.064.06

6. For in them you twain bring to us, O Varuna, the might
59
and the vastness;
form in us the wide world for the conquest of our plenitudes, for bliss, for our
soul's happiness.

Interpretation:
In whose many beings you two carry our force and wideness, that wide world is
made for us: to conquer the plenitudes, wealth and well-being.


77-t4lP P 4=6l (4 6HJ|4
B6 BlP + (|F6| Hl 9(| l46 +l |4H6l4 H+l+BP + --\-

uchntiym me yajat

devkatre radgavi
sut sma n hastbhir

pabhr dhvata nar

bbhratv arcan

nasam 5.064.07

7. To me, O lords of sacrifice, in the breaking of the dawn, in the flashing of the
ray, in the force of the gods, to my wine pressed out as if
60
by men with hands
come racing with your trampling steeds, O gods who bring,to the pilgrim of
the Light.
61


Interpretation:
In the dawning, o lords of the sacrifice, in the flashing of knowledge and the
luminous power, come to me, as if to the Soma pressed by those who have
hands, rush onto me with your galloping feet of gods, O you two Powerful

59
The divine force of the Truth-conscious being, called in the next verse the force of the
gods; the Vast, bhat, is the constant description of that plane or wide world,the
Truth, the Right, the Vast.
60
As if,showing, as often, that the wine and its pressing are figures and symbols.
61
Arcannas, he who travels to the illumination created by the word, the significant
name of the Rishi of this hymn, one of the line of Atri.



54
54
Heros, who are carrying me through, a pilgrim in the car of the flaming word of
aspiration!


Vocabulary:
ruadgu, mfn. having white or bright cattle ib.
devakatra, n. domain of the gods;
bibhrat, mfn. (pr.p. of bh) bearing, carrying RV. &c. &c.
arcannas, m. whose luminous Word carry him forward as in a car; "who has a rattling
carriage"; N. of a Rishi RV. v , 64 , 7 and AV. xviii , 3 , 15. anas, n. ( -an Un2.), a cart
RV. &c.; arcana, mf()n. ifc. honouring, praising Nir.





55
55
RV 5-65
i: rtahavya treya; devat: mitrvaru; chanda: anuup, 6
pakti

4H |T6 B B46 (4l B 4l6 +-
46Tl 4F4 (H6l |Pl 4l 4+6 |- + --\--{

6l |( ~U4Bl l=l+l (l~Pl
6l Bt96l +6l4 +6l4l+l =+ -=+ + --\---

6l 4lP 4l+l 54B 94l 79 4 Bl
F4HlB- B 6+l 4l=l H| 9 (l4+ + --\--(

|Pl H(lH |( Hl( 76 4l4 l6 4+6
|PF4 |( 9646- BP|6 H|F6 |46- + --\--

44 |PF4l4|B F4lP B9F6P
H+(BB t4l64- Bl 46TH9B- + --\---

44 |PP =+ 46- B +4-
Pl Pl+- 9| 46 Pl HFPlTP +9lTl
l9l + 76!46P + --\--\




56
56
The Lords of the Journey

The Rishi invokes the two great increasers of the truth in our being to lead us in
our journey to the plenitudes, to the vastness of our true existence which they
conquer for us out of the narrow limits of our present ignorant and imperfect
mentality.

4H |T6 B B46 (4l B 4l6 +-
46Tl 4F4 (H6l |Pl 4l 4+6 |- + --\--{

y cikta s sukrtur devatr

s bravtu na
vruo ysya darat mitr v vnate gra 5.065.01

1. He who has awakened to the knowledge, becomes perfect in will; let him
speak for us among the gods: Varuna of the vision and Mitra take delight in his
words.

Interpretation:
The one who is conscious he is of the perfect power of action, he should express
[representing] us among the gods by his Voice.
Of whom Varuna is the Seer and Mitra rejoices of his Voice!

The first phrase introduces the Vedic concept of Knowledge and Power. The one
who has the Knowledge has also the Power. It is he who should sound among
the Gods on our behalf! It is of him Varuna is the Seer, and Mitra is an Enjoyer of
his Voice. Here again Varuna represents the Power of the Self, therefore he is the
seer, yasya darata, whereas Mitra is enjoying his self-expression in Knowledge,
vanate gira. Varuna represents power of the Self, the body, the substance of
Infinity, Being, Sat, and Mitra the self-expression of that substance in the Word,
Knowledge, Consciousness, Cit.

Vocabulary:
van, 1. P. A. to like, love, wish, desire RV. AV.; to gain, acquire, procure (for one's self
or others) RV. AV.; to conquer, win, become master of, possess RV. AV.; to prepare,
make ready for, aim at, attack RV.


6l |( ~U4Bl l=l+l (l~Pl
6l Bt96l +6l4 +6l4l+l =+ -=+ + --\---



57
57
t

h ryihavarcas r

jn drgharttam
t

stpat r tv dha r t

vn jne-jane 5.065.02


2. They are the Kings most glorious in light and most far in their hearing;
62
they
are the masters of being in creature and creature and the increasers of the Truth
in us, for the Truth is theirs.

Interpretation:
These two luminous Kings, most glorious in the light of their Seeing and the
farthest in the depth of their Hearing, are the Lords of the Divine Existence, Sat,
who increase the Truth in every creature born in the physical body, for they are
the Masters of the Supramental (dynamic) Truth, tvn.

Vocabulary:
rehavarcas, mfn. having most excellent vigour or energy or glory RV.
drgharut, mfn. hearing from afar RV.; heard or renowned far and wide (superl. -tama)
RV. TS.;
tvdh, mfn. increasing or fostering truth or piety (said of gods) RV. VS.


6l 4lP 4l+l 54B 94l 79 4 Bl
F4HlB- B 6+l 4l=l H| 9 (l4+ + --\--(

t

vm iyn vase p

rv pa bruve sc
suvsa s cetn v

jm abh pr dvne 5.065.03

3. Travelling on the path I call to them, the twain together, the ancient and first;
with perfect steeds
63
as we travel we call to them, the perfect in knowledge, for
the giving of the plenitudes.

Interpretation:
These two Lords, first and ancient, who are intertwined together, I invoke you,
while moving on the Path, for my growth!
We, who are su-avsa, who perfected our life forces in our will and works and
aspiration towards the Truth, call upon you, who have this Perfect Knowledge
we acquire here to establish in us your Plenitudes!

62
They have the divine sight and the divine hearing, the Light and the Word.
63
As usual, the symbol of the dynamic energies, life-powers, etc., by which our will and
works and aspiration proceed.


58
58
Vjn dvane, to get your plenitudes, - the phrase suggests that the plenitude,
vja, is used in the sense of having both knowledge and power, making
substance full of delight; what the concept of wealth and plenitude actually
represents in the Vedic symbolism is the substance the power of which is
enlighten by knowledge.
So, the Rishi says: We, who have perfected our will power, are calling upon you
two, who are perfect in knowledge in order to get the plenitude, as final
realization in the body, the illumination of its powers.
In the later tradition (KathUp 1.3.3-4) the horses are associated with indriyas,
mind with strings controlling them, buddhi with the charioteer, the body with
chariot, and the self, Atman, with the passenger. So su-avsa in the light of the
later tradition may mean the one who controls well his indriyas, directing them
as necessary, not allowing them to run after the objects of their enjoyment, yati,
yogin, etc. So it can be translated differently: We, who have restrained our
senses, (who are in control of their movement, who have achieved the level of
Pratyhra, in the terms of Yogasutras,) call upon You, who are perfect in
Knowledge, to share with us your Plenitudes.

Vocabulary:
dvan, n. [only dat.-vane (mostly as inf.)] in order to give or to receive RV. mfn. (ifc.)
giving, granting RV. AV. &c.


|Pl H(lH |( Hl( 76 4l4 l6 4+6
|PF4 |( 9646- BP|6 H|F6 |46- + --\--

mitr ah cid

d ur kyya gt vanate
mitrsya h prat

rvata sumatr sti vidhat 5.065.04

4. Even out of our narrow existence Mitra conquers for us the vastness, he
conquers the path to our home; for the perfect mind
64
is of Mitra when he
harmonises all and hastens forward through to the goal.

Interpretation:
Mitra is delivering us from the narrow state of our mentality and conquers for
us the movement towards our vast habitation! It is by the Perfect Thought of
Mitra in us, which does all the work, that we can move on, for it is by this

64
Aho, the narrowness full of suffering and evil, is the unenlightened state of our
limited mentality; the perfect mentality, sumati, given by the grace of Mitra admits us to
the wideness.



59
59
Thought that He overpowers all the obstacles in us when He rushes to the goal, it
is with the help of this Thought that He can become gracious and friendly to us
harmonizing all in our being!
The well-accorded happiness of the Truth is Mitra's law of working; for it is
upon Truth and divine Knowledge that this harmony and perfect temperament
are founded; they are formed, secured and guarded by the Maya of Mitra and
Varuna. That well-known word comes from the same root as Mitra. Maya is the
comprehending, measuring, forming Knowledge which whether divine or
undivine, secure in the undivided being of Aditi or labouring in the divided
being of Diti, builds up the whole scene, environment, confines, and defines the
whole condition, law and working of our existence. Maya is the active,
originative, determinative view which creates for each being according to his
own consciousness his own world.

But Mitra is a Lord of the Light, a Son of Infinity and a Guardian of the Truth
and his Maya part of an infinite, supreme and faultless creative wisdom. He
builds, he joins together in an illuminated harmony all the numerous planes, all
the successive steps, all the graded seats of our being. Whatsoever Aryaman
aspires to on his path, has to be effected by the `holdings' or laws of Mitra or by
his foundations, statuses, placings, mitrasya dharmabhi, mitrasya dhmabhi. For
dharma, the law is that which holds things together and to which we hold;
dhma, the status is the placing of the law in a founded harmony which creates
for us our plane of living and the character of our consciousness, action and
thought.
65


Vocabulary:
ahu, mfn. (only in compar. {ahyas}) narrow AitBr.; n. (only in Abl. ahos) anxiety,
distress RV.;
ah, to press together, to strangle; cf. with ahi, m.( from ah), a snake RV. &c.; the
serpent of the sky, the demon Vtra RV.; (in arithm.) the number eight;
pra-tvar/ pra-tr; A,{-tvarate} , to hasten forwards, speed; tur, (cf. t, tvar) cl. 6. to
hurry, press forwards; to overpower RV.; to hurt ib.: to run, press forwards RV. SV., to
strive to press forwards;

44 |PF4l4|B F4lP B9F6P
H+(BB t4l64- Bl 46TH9B- + --\---

vaym mitrsya vasi siy

ma saprthastame
anehsas tuvtaya satr

vruaeasa 5.065.05

65

Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 511



60
60

5. May we abide in the increasing of Mitra which gives us our perfect breadth;
then are we free from hurt and sin, fostered by thee, children of the Lord of
Wideness.

Interpretation:
May we be in the increase of Mitra, which is the most suitable for our growth,
we being unobstructed, supported by you, staying together, the offspring of
Varuna.
To paraphrase it: Being all the offspring of Varuna may we grow by the increase
of Mitra!, which sheds some light on the qualities of Mitra and Varuna, even
linguistically (cf. the roots: v, to cover, protect, sustain; and m, to measure,
create, realize).

Sri Aurobindo says:
That happy freedom of all-possession comes to us out of this godhead's
universality and his reconciling luminous embrace of things: Mitra's is the
principle of harmony by which the manifold workings of the Truth agree
together in a perfectly wedded union. The root of the name means both to
embrace and to contain and hold and, again, to build or form in the sense of
linking together the parts or materials of a whole. Adorable Mitra is born in us as
a blissful ordainer of things and a king full of might. Mitra holds up heaven and
earth and looks sleeplessly upon the worlds and the peoples, and his vigilant and
perfect ordinances create in us a happy rightness of mind and feelingsumati, a
state of grace, we might almost say,which becomes for us an unhurt abiding-
place. Free from all undelightfulness, says the Vedic verse, rejoicing with
rapture in the goddess of the Word, bowing the knee in the wideness of earth,
may we attain to our abiding-place in the law of working of Mitra, son of
Infinity, and dwell in his grace. It is when Agni becomes Mitra, when the divine
Will realises the divine Love that, in the Vedic image, the Lord and his Spouse
agree in their mansion.
66


Vocabulary:
saprathas, (sa-, or sa-prathas) mfn. extensive, wide RV. VS.; effective or sounding or
shining far and wide ib.; -tama mfn. (superl.) very extensive or large ib.
prathas, n. width, extension RV.
anehas, mfn. (h), without a rival, incomparable, unattainable, unmenaced ,
unobstructed RV.
tvoti, tv-uti, mfn. Bah. in whom there is our growth, id. , RV 5.65.5; ix , 66 and 76.
satr, ind. (sa+tr) together, together with (instr.), altogether, throughout always, by all
means RV. AV. Br.

66
Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 511


61
61
sattra (incorr. satra) , n. "session", a great Soma sacrifice (lasting accord. to some, from
13 to 100 days and performed by many officiating Brahmanas ; also applied to any
oblation or meritorious work equivalent to the performance of a Sattra ; RV. &c. &c.
varuaeas, mfn. having descendants capable of protecting, RV. v, 65, 5 (Sy.; others
"being Varua's posterity i.e. sinless").

44 |PP =+ 46- B +4-
Pl Pl+- 9| 46 Pl HFPlTP +9lTl l9l + 76!46P + --\--\

yuvm mitr im jna ytatha s ca nayatha
m

maghna pri khyatam m asm

kam
gopth na uruyatam 5.065.06

6. You twain, O Mitra, set this human creature travelling on your path and
wholly you lead him. Set not your hedge around our lords of plenitude and our
seers of the truth. Guard us in our drinking of the light.
67


Interpretation:
You two, O Mitra, connect this human being born in the body to your goal and
lead him there fully! Do not separate us from the Lords of plenitude and our
Rishis! Increase us in the drinking of the light of knowledge.

Sri Aurobindo writes in the Secret of the Veda:
He is the great and blissful one who sets and leads creatures born into the world
upon their path. The distinction is drawn in one verse that Varuna is the
masterful traveller to the soul's supreme seat, Mitra makes men advance in that
march. Even now says the Rishi may I attain the movement to the goal and
journey on Mitra's path.
Since Mitra cannot fulfil his harmony except in the wideness and purity of
Varuna, he is constantly invoked in company with that great godhead. Theirs are
the supreme statuses or planes of the soul; it is the bliss of Mitra and Varuna that
has to increase in us. By their law that vast plane of our consciousness shines out
upon us and heaven and earth are the two paths of their journey. For Aditi of the
Truth, their mother, has borne them omniscient and great for almightiness;
and it is luminous Aditi, the undivided being, whom they, wakeful from day
to day, cleave to, she who holds for us our habitations in that world of light
and they attain to its luminous forcefulness. They are the two Sons perfect in
their birth from of old who support the law of our action; children are they of a

67
Go, the Light or the Cow, meaning here the milk or yield of the Mother of Light.



62
62
vast luminous power, offspring of the divine discerning thought and perfect in
will. They are the guardians of Truth, possessed of its law in the supreme ether.
Swar is their golden home and birth-place.

Vocabulary:
yat, 1. A (prob. connected with yam, and orig. meaning, to stretch"), (P.) to place in
order, marshal, join, connect RV.
khy, 2. P. khyti (in the non-conjugational tenses also A, perf. cakhyau, cakhye; impf.
akhyat, akhyata (P 2. 3-1 , 52); to relate, tell, say, declare, betray, denounce.
goptha, m. (1. p) a draught of milk RV.; m. (3. p) protection RV. v , 65 , 6
uruya Nom. (fr. uru.; perhaps an irr. fut. or Desid. of 1.v) P. uruyati; to protect,
secure, defend from (abl.) RV. AV.


Appendi x


The Symbol of Dawn.

Above mi nd' s twi l i ght and l i fe' s star-l ed ni ght
There gleamed the dawn of a spiritual day.
68


uo bhadrebhi r gahi diva cid rocand adhi
69

O Dawn, come wi th your bl essi ngs, from beyond of the shining
Heaven!

i da reha j yoti j yoti r gc ci tra praketo aj ani a vi bhv
70

The best l i ght of al l l i ghts has come. Bri ght Vi si on i s born wi del y
spreadi ng.

It i s the Dawn, who creat es l i ght,
71
cl ears up the ori gi nal darkness,
abhva, and heal s al l thi ngs di storted by i t, restori ng the Presence of the
Di vi ni ty i n the l ower hemi sphere.

upa m pepi at t ama / ka vyakt am asthi ta / ua eva ytaya
The darkness (tamas) pai nti ng thi ck approached me, dark and pal pabl e,
O Dawn, cl ear i t away, l i ke debts!
72


pratyarc ruad asy adari vi tihate bdhate kam abhvam/
73

Her shi ni ng fl ame appeared removi ng and destroyi ng bl ack non-bei ng!

68
Savitri, p.26
69
RV 1.49.1
70
RV 1.113.1
71
RV 1.48.8
72
RV 10.126.7
73
RV 1.92.5


63
63

Into bei ng' s gap scooped out as empty Space
In whi ch she had fi l l ed the pl ace of absent God,
There poured a wide intimate and bli ssful Dawn;
Healed were all things that Time' s torn heart had made
And sorrow coul d l i ve no more i n Nature' s breast:
Division ceased to be, for God was there.
The soul lit the conscious body with its ray,
Matter and spirit mingled and were one.
74


The maj or facul ty of Dawn i s to bri ng the Li ght from the Beyond and to
overfl ow the di vi si on between God and Worl d. It i s wi th her overfl owi ng
l i ght from the beyond that the soul becomes abl e to i l l umi ne and make
consci ous the body i n whi ch i t dwel l s; thus matter and spi ri t wi l l be abl e
to mi ngl e and become one.

Usha as the mother of the cows can onl y be a form or power of thi s
supreme Li ght, of t hi s supreme Consci ousness, of Adi ti . And i n fact, we
do fi nd her so descri bed i n I.113. 19, mt devnm adi ter an kam
Mother of the gods, form (or, power) of Aditi.- says Sri Aurobi ndo
i n The Secret of the Veda.
75


In Savi tri Sri Aurobi ndo i s often usi ng thi s ri ch i magery of the Dawn,
defi ni ng her as the Di vi ne Mother. In the Cant o dedi cated to the
Adorati on of the Di vi ne Mother he speaks of Her and the change she
bri ngs i n thi s way:

Il l umi ned by her al l -seei ng i denti ty
Knowl edge and Ignorance coul d stri ve no more;
No l onger coul d the ti tan Opposi tes,
Antagoni st pol es of the worl d' s arti fi ce,
Impose the i l l usi on of thei r twofol d screen
Throwi ng thei r fi gures between us and her.

It i s by removi ng thi s twofol d screen of myvi ns, the creators worki ng
and mani festi ng the Di vi ne by the force of My i n the l ower hemi sphere,
who thus have twi sted the proj ecti on of the Supreme, creati ng a
di chotomy of Knowl edge and Ignorance, creati ng Ti me and Space
phenomena, throwi ng al l the fi gures of the mani festi ng Di vi ne between
us and her, creati ng an i l l usi on of our separate bi rth and l i fe and death.
But when She comes i l l umi ni ng al l wi th her al l -seei ng i denti ty, then
Knowl edge and Ignorance l oose thei r i denti ty, and the antagoni st pol es

74
Savitri, p. 232
75
The Secret of the Veda, p.131; see also the Mothers explanation of the Symbol Dawn.


64
64
of the worl d s arti fi ce cannot i mpose the i l l usi on of thei r twofol d screen,
throwi ng thei r fi gures between us and her.

The Wi sdom was near, di sgui sed by i ts own works,
Of whi ch the darkened uni verse i s the robe.
No more exi stence seemed an ai ml ess fal l ,
Exti ncti on was no more the sol e rel ease.

The Wi sdom, the Consci ousness of Adi ti , superi or t o Knowl edge and
Ignorance, worki ng by both, embodyi ng both (cf. the concept of Vi dy
and Avi dy i n the aUp 9-11) approaches us, hi dden by i ts own works of
a seemi ng Ignorance now, of whi ch al l thi s Uni verse i s nothi ng but a
robe, a garment for the Di vi ne to wear (see vsyam i da sarvam of
the aUp 1.) and t he exi stence l ooses i ts seemi ng ai ml essness, and the
fal l of l i fe becomes ful l y j usti fi ed; the l i berati on from the Worl d or
exti ncti on, as Sri Aurobi ndo cal l s the desi re of di ssol ut i on i n pure
Transcendent al Spi ri t, Mukti , compl etel y l ooses i ts meani ng. The worl d
and the spi ri t become agai n one wi thout a second.

The hi dden Word was found, the l ong-sought cl ue,
Reveal ed was the meani ng of our spi ri t' s bi rth,
Condemned to an i mperfect body and mi nd,
In the i nconsci ence of materi al thi ngs
And the i ndi gni ty of mortal l i fe.

It i s wi th her comi ng that the hi dden Word i s found, the cl ue to thi ngs
di vi ne here i n the l ower hemi sphere: t he Fi re, the Di vi ne Wi l l ful l of
Knowl edge, the Immortal among mortal s, the emergi ng Word, who
carri ed the meani ng of our spi ri t s bi rth, was fi nal l y rel eased from
Darkness, mahn devas tamaso ni ramoci (RV 5. 1.2).
When the Dawn arri ves the Fi re hi dden i n the darkness comes out and
moves towards her l i ke a cal f towards a Cow, who i s approachi ng to feed
hi m, prti dhenm i vyat

m u

sam (RV 5.1.1). It i s on Her t hat he feeds

and grows beyond Heaven and Eart h, shi ni ng wi th Her l i ght, uttn

m
rdhv adhayaj j uh

bhi , (RV 5.1.3).

Now was reveal ed the secret meani ng of our spi ri tual bi rth here, and t he
pl unge i nto the Ni ght whi ch l ooked fi rst l i ke an condemnati on to an
i mperfect body and mi nd, and the i ndi gni ty of mortal l i fe was fi nal l y
j usti fi ed, for the hi dden Word was found i n the dept h of Inconsci ent, t he
l ong-sought cl ue, whi ch fi nal l y expl ai ned to us what t hi s Sacri fi ce was
made for.
Thi s i l l umi nati on can be compared to the transformati on of the Lord of
Darkness, i n Mother s termi nol ogy, where the l i ght from above and from
bel ow i s reestabl i shed. We can compare i t to the fi rst two boons whi ch
Savi tri recei ves from Yama: the si ght for Dyumatsena as an awakeni ng of
the Dawn from above, and the regai ni ng of hi s ki ngdom on eart h as t he


65
65
di scovery of the meani ng of our spi ri t s bi rth, of the hi dden Word, as the
answer t o our quest.
The recovery of the Lumi nous Consci ousness i n thi s worl d, separated i n
two on the Transcendental and the Mani festati on, i s to be done on both
si des. It has t o come from above and to ri se from bel ow. These are two
bel oved, as the Veda says, t he Dawn as the Di vi ne Mother and Agni as
her husband and her son, who are one i n thei r i nner nat ure, but di fferent
i n thei r mani festati ons; they are twi ns:

Thi s whol e wi de worl d i s onl y he and she.
Thi s i s the knot that ti es together t he st ars:
The Two who are one are the secret of al l power,
The Two who are one are the mi ght and ri ght i n thi ngs.
76


On thi s ground they have to recover thei r oneness here i n the worl d of
matter. And the fi rst step of thi s recovery i s on the l evel of
Consci ousness. The oneness i s to be achi eved between t he unborn Sel f
and the evol vi ng Soul , Psychi c Bei ng.

Here i n thi s chamber of flame and light they met;
They l ooked upon each other, knew themsel ves,
The secret dei ty and i ts human part ,
The cal m i mmortal and the struggl i ng soul .
Then wi th a magi c transformati on' s speed
They rushed i nto each other and grew one.
77


When Agni shi nes wi th the l i ght of Usha, the oneness of knowl edge i s
achi eved and t he percepti on of the worl d changes, i t becomes si ngl e
i nstead of dual , aj mi , though i t operat es by two j mi s.
It i s when Agni becomes Mi tra, when t he di vi ne Wi l l real i ses the di vi ne
Love that, i n the Vedi c i mage, the Lord and hi s Spouse agree i n thei r
mansi on.
78

It i s because of thi s uni ty of the transcendental and i nvol ved di vi ni ty that
the oneness between the two pol es of exi stence can be establ i shed.
Therefore Mother was seen by Sri Aurobi ndo as a gol den bri dge
between the two.

A Heart was fel t i n the spaces wi de and bare,
A burni ng Love from whi te spi ri tual founts
Annul l ed the sorrow of the i gnorant dept hs;
Sufferi ng was l ost i n her i mmortal smi l e.

76
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77
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78

Vol ume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secr et of t he Veda), Page: 511



66
66

Once the Supreme Wi sdom from above and from bel ow i s reestabl i shed
the sufferi ng and sorrow are becomi ng annul l ed by the awakeni ng of the
spi ri tual Transcendental Heart wi thi n the mani festati on, i n spaces wi de
and bare. It i s a Cosmi c Consci ousness, seei ng al l as t he mani festati on
of the Supreme.
It can be compared to the t ransformati on of the second Asura of
Sufferi ng, i n t he Mot her s terms, or wi th the boon Savi tri recei ves for her
father Aswapati , who, as the story of Mahabharat a says, suffered a l ot,
sant pam upaj agmi vn.
It i s onl y now when Ashvamedha i s offered and the bei ng has overcome
the l i mi tati ons of mental and physi cal consci ousness that the conversi on
of Fal sehood, Infi ni te Darkness, abhva, by the Supramental Descent can
be at al l percei ved so that the Transcendent al Sat-Ci t-Ananda can act
upon i t, transformi ng i t i nto i ts own nature.

A Li fe from beyond grew conqueror here of death;
To err no more was natural to mi nd;
Wrong coul d not come where al l was l i ght and l ove.
The Forml ess and t he Formed were j oi ned i n her:
Immensi ty was exceeded by a l ook,
A Face reveal ed the crowded Infi ni te.
79


Where al l i s l i ght and l ove, t hat i s to say when t he fi rst two Asuras of
Darkness and Sufferi ng are bei ng convert ed, or when the boons for
Dyumatsena and Aswapati are al ready granted, t hen wrong can not come
here anymore and t o err no more i s natural to mi nd and even a Li fe
from beyond grows conqueror here of death, whi ch i n the story of
Savi tri correspond t o the l ast two boons and i n the Mot her s terms i t i s
the conversi on of the Lord of Fal sehood and Deat h.
Dawn bri ngs the Li ght, whi ch reconci l es the ant agoni st-pol es of hi gher
and l ower hemi sphere: the Forml ess and the Formed were j oi ned i n
her, and creati ng oneness of al l , She i s reveal i ng hersel f as a Face of
the crowded Infi ni te, mt devnm adi ter an kam, (RV 3.61.1-2), the
Suprament al Mani festati on.
Now we are deal i ng wi th the real ms of Consci ousness beyond our l i mi ted
mental and physi cal real ms. To conquer Fal sehood and Death we have to
go beyond our i ndi vi dual state of consci ousness and bei ng i nto the
real ms of abhva, Uni versal Inconsci ent, the Sel f of Death. From now on
there must be another strat egy adopt ed: a st rat egy of a di rect i nfl uence
from the Supramental Force, the di rect pressure of the Truth
Consci ousness on t he abysses of Infi ni te Darkness. The i ndi vi dual
el ement st eps back or rather wi dens and becomes Uni versal , as i t were,

79
Savitri, p. 313


67
67
gi vi ng pl ace to great er forces to cl ash i n hi s/her own body. The i ndi vi dual
becomes a Uni versal battl efi el d.
It i s onl y now that the Di vi ne Mother can convert Fal sehood i nto Truth
and eventual l y Deat h i nto Immortal i ty. Here She reveal s her Face of the
crowded Infi ni te, symbol i zed by her boon of 100 sons wi th Satyavan.
80

It i s through thi s Li fe, as a gap between heaven and eart h that the forces
of Li ght and Darkness from the beyond can enter and cl ash. Man i s
desi gned to be a knot for these i nfi ni tudes, a sacri fi ci al ground and an
al tar, a transformati on st ati on and a bat tl efi el d, a Hi ranya Garbha, where
the Lord grows i n hi s Mani festati on. It i s hi s desti ny and hi s purpose to
do thi s work of the Di vi ne.
It i s the recovery of the si ngl e Lumi nous Consci ousness and the offeri ng
of Li fe-Force Ashvamedha, movi ng beyond our l i mi ted mental i ty and
physi cal i ty that the Veda has mai nl y deal t wi th. The change of Abhva, the
Fal sehood, and Death, i n the most concrete and fundamental way was
not thei r di rect preoccupati on. Therefore
Sri Aurobi ndo says:
The fundamental di fference i s i n the t eachi ng t hat t here i s a dynami c
di vi ne Truth (t he supermi nd) and t hat i nto the present worl d of
Ignorance that Truth can descend, create a new Truth-Consci ousness and
di vi ni se Li fe. The ol d yogas go strai ght from mi nd to the absol ute Di vi ne,
regard al l dynami c exi stence as Ignorance, Il l usi on or Li l a; when you
ent er t he stati c and i mmutabl e Di vi ne Truth, they say, you pass out of
cosmi c exi stence.
The Vedi c Ri shi s never attai ned to the supermi nd for the eart h or
perhaps di d not even make the att empt. They t ri ed to ri se i ndi vi dual l y to
the supramental pl ane, but t hey di d not bri ng i t down and make i t a
permanent part of the eart h-consci ousness. Even there are verses of the
Upani shad i n whi ch i t i s hi nted that i t i s i mpossi bl e to pass through t he
gates of the Sun (the symbol of the supermi nd) and yet ret ai n an earthl y
body. It was because of thi s fai l ure t hat t he spi ri tual effort of Indi a
cul mi nated i n Mayavada. Our yoga i s a doubl e movement of ascent and
descent; one ri ses to hi gher and hi gher l evel s of consci ousness, but at
the same ti me one bri ngs down thei r power not onl y i nto mi nd and l i fe,
but i n t he end even i nto the body. And the hi ghest of these l evel s, the
one at whi ch i t ai ms i s the supermi nd. Onl y when that can be brought
down i s a di vi ne transformati on possi bl e i n the earth-consci ousness.
81




80

Hundred i s a symbol i c number of i nf i ni te compl eteness, whi ch Sri Aur obi ndo
expl ai ns i n the Secret of t he Veda as 7 ti mes 7 i s 49, a compl ete mani f estati on
of al l the pl anes of consci ousness and f or ce her e i n t he l ower hemi spher e and
1, symbol i zi ng t he oneness of al l of them bel ow whi ch makes i t 50, and t he
same i n t he hi gher hemi sphere wi th t he supreme one above t hem.

81

Letters on Yoga, p.102



68
68
RV 5-66 i: rtahavya treya;
devat: mitrvaru;
chanda: anuup

Hl ||T6l+ B46 (4l P6 |Hl(Bl
46Tl4 +69HB (l6 94B P( + --\\-{

6l |( P H|4 6 B4 HB4P HlHl6
H 64 Pl+9 F4 T l|4 (H6P + --\\--

6l 4lP 99 l+lP 74lP -4|6P 99lP
l6(-4F4 B7|6 (T F6lP P+lP( + --\\-(

Hl |( Tl-4l 44 (F4 9| H6l
|+ T6+l =+l+l |T 96(Bl + --\\-

6( +6 9||4 4(74 99 +9lTlP
4Bl+l4 H 94 H|6 |-6 4lP|- + --\\--

Hl 4( 4lP 4Bl |P 44 B4-
-4|U 49l4 46P|( F4l74 + --\\-\



69
69
The Givers of Self-Rule

The Rishi invokes Varuna, the vast form of the Truth, and Mitra the beloved,
godhead of its harmonies and large bliss, who conquer for us the perfect force of
our true and infinite being, to change our imperfect human nature into the
image of their divine workings. Then the solar Heaven of the Truth is
manifested within us, its wide pasture of herding illuminations becomes the field
of journeying of our chariots, the high thoughts of the seers, their purified
discernment, their rapid inspirations become ours, our very earth becomes the
world of that vast Truth. For then there is the perfect movement, the
transcendence of this darkness of sin and suffering. We arrive at self-empire, a
rich, full and vast possession of our infinite being.

Interpretation:
Varuna and Mitra are the powers of the dynamic truth, whose habitation and the
birth place is Svar, the region between our human intelligence and the
Supermind. They represent the luminous worlds of Svar, the world of the Rays
of the Sun, but not the Sun itself, which is Supermind proper. The dynamism of
these planes can change our human dynamic nature into the divine nature.

It is because of this attempt to pass beyond these higher dynamic regions and to
go straight to the Absolute that the transformation of human nature started to be
seen as impossible. And this was the meaning of the famous dialog between
Indra and Agastya, who tried to overpass the regions of Svar and to go straight
to the Absolute, where Indra explained to him that he was actually his friend and
should not be neglected.
82


82
The Secret of the Veda, p. 254:
The governing idea of the hymn belongs to a stage of spiritual progress when the human soul
wishes by the sheer force of Thought to hasten forward beyond in order to reach prematurely
the source of all things without full development of the being in all its progressive stages of
conscious activity. The effort is opposed by the Gods who preside over the universe of man and
of the world and a violent struggle takes place in the human consciousness between the
individual soul in its egoistic eagerness and the universal Powers which seek to fulfil the divine
purpose of the Cosmos.
The seer Agastya at such a moment confronts in his inner experience Indra, Lord of Swar, the
realm of pure intelligence, through which the ascending soul passes into the divine Truth.
Indra speaks first of that unknowable Source of things towards which Agastya is too impatiently
striving. That is not to be found in Time. It does not exist in the actualities of the present, nor
in the eventuality of the future. It neither is now nor becomes hereafter. Its being is beyond
Space and Time and therefore in Itself cannot be known by that which is in Space and Time. It
manifests Itself by Its forms and activities in the consciousness of that which is not Itself and
through those activities it is meant that It should be realised. But if one tries to approach It and
study It in Itself, It disappears from the thought that would seize It and is as if It were not.



70
70
The whole region of the Rays of the Sun and of the Sun itself were thus
overlooked by the later systems of yoga, pointing to the Absolute alone,
excluding the dynamic aspect of the Truth which alone could transform our
lower nature. It is only the Vedic Rishis who tried to do it but it was very difficult
to achieve. The failure to bring it down resulted in the change of the spiritual
seeking, which now became oriented towards the Absolute alone bypassing the
dynamic regions; thus tam was forgotten and only satyam remained. This is
why Sri Aurobindos discovery of the Supramental Consciousness with all the
levels following it: Overmind, Intuitive Mind, Illumined Mind, Higher Mind is a
new and at the same time an old revelation. Sri Aurobindo found in the Veda the
attempt to realize the dynamic truth of our being here in the body in
confirmation with his own experience. It is most probably because of this that
the Secret of the Veda was lost, for the dynamic regions of the Supermind were
overlooked and the Veda became simply a monument, a remnant of a glorious
past.
Sri Aurobindo writes in the letter to his disciple:
The fundamental difference is in the teaching that there is a dynamic divine
Truth (the supermind) and that into the present world of Ignorance that Truth
can descend, create a new Truth-Consciousness and divinise Life. The old yogas
go straight from mind to the absolute Divine, regard all dynamic existence as
Ignorance, Illusion or Lila; when you enter the static and immutable Divine
Truth, they say, you pass out of cosmic existence.

The Vedic Rishis never attained to the supermind for the earth or perhaps did
not even make the attempt. They tried to rise individually to the supramental
plane, but they did not bring it down and make it a permanent part of the earth-
consciousness. Even there are verses of the Upanishad in which it is hinted that it
is impossible to pass through the gates of the Sun (the symbol of the supermind)
and yet retain an earthly body. It was because of this failure that the spiritual
effort of India culminated in Mayavada. Our yoga is a double movement of
ascent and descent; one rises to higher and higher levels of consciousness, but at
the same time one brings down their power not only into mind and life, but in
the end even into the body. And the highest of these levels, the one at which it
aims is the supermind. Only when that can be brought down is a divine
transformation possible in the earth-consciousness.
83



Hl ||T6l+ B46 (4l P6 |Hl(Bl
46Tl4 +69HB (l6 94B P( + --\\-{

83
Letters on Yoga, p.102


71
71

cikitna sukrt deva marta ri

das
vruya rtpease dadht pryase mah 5.066.01

1. O mortal who awakenest to knowledge, call to thee the two godheads who are
perfect in will and destroyers of thy enemy. Direct your thoughts to Varuna of
whom Truth is the form and to the great Delight.
84


Interpretation:
Again, Sri Aurobindo translates dadhta, Pot. 2 pers. plur., from dh, to put, fix,
establish, as direct your thoughts, meaning fix your consciousness upon,
which is very significant in relation to the mind as a faculty of consciousness.
Mind is placing, fixing, holding an image of things in front of our consciousness.
It is this Mind starting from the lower human intelligence through all the higher
levels up to the Supermind which has the capacity of holding and fixing the
consciousness in a particular state. So the role of the Mind would be a channel of
the higher spiritual powers of consciousness. Somewhere Sri Aurobindo says
that we cannot fully understand how mind functions until we discover the
Supermind. It is this approach to the mind that makes Veda unique in the history
of spirituality, for it includes the higher regions and is extended up to the
Supermind. If it is so, then the invocation by the Word, formed from the higher
realms of the consciousness, can establish here in the lower mind the higher
levels of consciousness. In other words we can extend our mind consciousness
into the higher regions and we can ascend to the higher realms of our own mind
at will, for it is one and the same mind within us. In this sense Mitra and Varuna
are the faculties and capacities of our higher mental consciousness, which we
thus can extend our perception to or activate them within our mind here. They
introduce our soul to its higher realms as the Rishi says. These are our realms
which we can visit and experience within our consciousness and being.
Dyumatsena lit. means the Army of the Rays of the Sun, it represents this
region of consciousness (from human intelligence to the Overmental plane)
which has to be fully activated here in our body recovering our evolving soul,
psychic being, hidden in the cave of the heart, which thus uniting with its higher
regions of consciousness will expand itself to the Cosmic dimensions in the
individual frame, uniting Heaven and Earth in one perception of Truth.

O mortal, who has become conscious, cling to the two Gods, perfect in Power,
destroyers of enemies! Towards Varuna, of who is decorated by the Dynamic

84
The satisfaction given by Mitra, founding the large bliss of the Truth-plane. Varuna of
the infinities gives the wide form, Mitra of the harmonies the perfect joy of the energies
of the Truth, its complete mightiness.


72
72
Truth, towards (Mitra, who is dressed in) great delight, direct your mind fixed by
uninterrupted concentration.

Vocabulary:
peas, n. shape, form, colour RV. ; an artificial figure, ornament, embroidery, an
embroidered garment ib. VS. AitBr.
dadhta, 2 pers. Pot. From dh, only here in RV 5-66-1;

6l |( P H|4 6 B4 HB4P HlHl6
H 64 Pl+9 F4 T l|4 (H6P + --\\--

t

h katrm vihruta samyg asurym

ate
dha vratva m

nua svar dhyi daratm 5.066.02

2. For it is they who attain to the undistorted force and the entire mightiness.
Then shall thy humanity become as if the workings of these gods; it is as if the
visible heaven of light
85
were founded in thee.

Interpretation:
For these two are representatives of the Dynamic Truth, who have access to the
perfect power of the Self which is undistorted Force. It is by that force that our
humanity can become the fields of their workings; it is as if Svar itself becomes
founded here in us fully visible.

Definitely it is one of the most obvious and direct indication of transformation of
our nature into its higher prototype. The Force is needed for such a realization
and the Force is theirs, undistorted, the entire mightiness.

Vocabulary:
vihruta, (vi-) mfn. crooked, dislocated, hurt, injured RV. AV.
a, Ved. Aor. e te, ate, to get, to attain, to realize, to enjoy;
darata, mfn. visible, striking the eye, conspicuous, beautiful RV. AV.


6l 4lP 99 l+lP 74lP -4|6P 99lP
l6(-4F4 B7|6 (T F6lP P+lP( + --\\-(

t

vm e rthnm urv

gvytim em
rthavyasya suut dadh k stmair manmahe 5.066.03

85
Or Swar of the vision, the world of light where is the full vision of the Truth.


73
73

3. Therefore you, O gods, I desire,for the rushing of these chariots your wide
pasture of the herds. Forcefully by our hymns our minds seize on his perfect
affirmation when the god receives our bounteous offerings.

Interpretation:
Such great are you, whom I desire and aspire towards, - for these many chariots
of ours are seeking to get to the vast pasture of your herds of light.
Strongly we fix our minds by affirmations upon the perfect Hymn-Affirmation of
the one whose offering has already been accepted: Ratahavya.

Ratahavya is the name of the Rishi of this hymn. Sri Aurobindo translates it
differently with a deeper connotation: our minds seize on his perfect
affirmation, when the god receives our bounteous offerings. He transmits the
quality of the Rishis name onto the action of those whose minds are seeking
after these higher planes of consciousness, which is quite interesting, for it
creates one space within the mind.

Vocabulary:
dadh, (nom. -dhk) ind. (Pn 2. 3-2 , 59) strongly, boldly RV. v , 66 , 3;
e, (probably connected with i) 1. P. A. eati (Impv. eatu; inf. ee), to go, move; to
creep, glide RV.; to glide or hasten towards, attain, obtain RV. v , 41 , 5
e, P. A. (-ati, -te), to hasten near or towards, fly at to endeavour to reach or obtain
to desire, request RV.
rtahavya, one to whom the offering is presented, one who receives the oblation ib.; m.
(with Atreya) N. of the author of RV. v, 65
gavyti, f. (Pn2. 6-1 , 79 Vrtt.2 f.) a pasture, piece of pasture land, district, place of
residence RV. AV. TS.


Hl |( Tl-4l 44 (F4 9| H6l
|+ T6+l =+l+l |T 96(Bl + --\\-

dh h k

viy yuv dkasya prbhr adbhut

n ketn jnn cikthe ptadakas 5.066.04

4. Then indeed, O transcendent godheads, you conquer the seer-wisdoms by the
full floodings of the illumined discernment; you perceive knowledge for these
human creatures by a perception in which the judgment is purified.

Interpretation:


74
74
It is only then after our rigorous and powerful affirmation that you finally
conquer our wisdom by the floodings of your intuition, and thus you perceive in
the human creatures all by your complete and perfect perception, you who have
pure Discernment!
The higher consciousness of the transcendent godheads, adbhut, finally
overflows the poetic and prophetic wisdom of the human seers, it answers to the
call, as it were, and takes full charge over the perception of human beings.


Vocabulary:
pur f. (from p) only instr. pl. prbhis, in abundance, abundantly RV. v , 66 , 4.
adbhuta, mfn., supernatural, wonderful, marvelous; m. the marvellous (in style) ,
surprise RV.
kvya, mfn., endowed with the qualities of a sage or poet, descended or coming from a
sage, prophetic, inspired, poetical RV.


6( +6 9||4 4(74 99 +9lTlP
4Bl+l4 H 94 H|6 |-6 4lP|- + --\\--

td r tm pr thivi br hc chrava-e m
jrayasn

v ram pr th ti karanti y

mabhi 5.066.05


5. O wide Earth, that Vast, that Truth for the movement of inspired knowledge of
the sages! Widely the Twain speed with full capacity, our chariots pass
streaming beyond
86
in their travellings.

Interpretation:
It is interesting that the Rishi invokes here the Earth, Prithiv, which lit. means
expanded, or wide. That Rhythm, tam, O Earth, wide supporter of our
existence here, is vast, in search of Knowledge of the Rishis! Widely you two
speed up all over, and they flow beyond heaven and earth with their chariots.

Vocabulary:
jrayasna, mfn. spreading, expanding, occupying space, v , 66
pthu, mf(v or u) n. broad, wide, expansive, extensive, spacious, large great, important
copious, numerous, manifold RV. &c. &c. (-u ind.)
yma, m. motion, course, going, progress RV. AV. Br.; a road, way, path ib.; a carriage,
chariot RV.
ravaea m. desire of praising RV.

86
Beyond the darkness and the enemies, the suffering and evil of the lower existence.


75
75
Hl 4( 4lP 4Bl |P 44 B4-
-4|U 49l4 46P|( F4l74 + --\\-\

yd vm yacakas mtra vay ca srya

vycihe bahup

yiye ytemahi svar

jiye 5.066.06

6. When, O Mitra, you have your far-voyaging vision and we are the illumined
seers, may we arrive in the effort of our journey to a self-empire
87
spread out
widely open and governing its multitudes.

Interpretation:
When you have established your far reaching vision and we become illumined
seers by it, may we come to the self-realisation of a self-empire perfect within
and without, protected by many, manifesting in multitudes.

The Formless and the Formed were joined in her:
Immensity was exceeded by a look,
A Face revealed the crowded Infinite.
88


Vocabulary:
yacakas, mfn. (ya fr. i) of pervading or far-reaching sight RV. v , 66 , 6.
vyaciha, mfn. (superl.) most spacious or expansive RV.
dahupyya, mfn. protecting many; n. a large hall RV.


Appendix 1

Let us see how Sri Aurobindo describes the Mind and it ability to reach beyond
in The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Mind
89
:

There ceased the limits of the labouring Power.
But being and creation cease not there.
For Thought transcends the circles of mortal mind,
It is greater than its earthly instrument:

87
Swarajya. Swarajya and Samrajya, perfect empire within and without, rule of our
inner being and mastery of our environment and circumstances, was the ideal of the
Vedic sages, attainable only by ascending beyond our mortal mentality to the luminous
Truth of our being, the supramental infinities on the spiritual plane of our existence.
88
Volume: 33-34 [CWSA] (Savitri -- A Legend and a Symbol), Page: 314

89
Volume: 33-34 [CWSA] (Savitri -- A Legend and a Symbol), Page: 260



76
76
The godhead crammed into mind's narrow space
Escapes on every side into some vast
That is a passage to infinity.
It moves eternal in the spirit's field,
A runner towards the far spiritual light,
A child and servant of the spirit's force.
But mind too falls back from a nameless peak.
His being stretched beyond the sight of Thought.
For the spirit is eternal and unmade
And not by thinking was its greatness born,
And not by thinking can its knowledge come.
It knows itself and in itself it lives,
It moves where no thought is nor any form.
Its feet are steadied upon finite things,
Its wings can dare to cross the Infinite.
Arriving into his ken a wonder space
Of great and marvellous meetings called his steps,
Where Thought leaned on a Vision beyond thought
And shaped a world from the Unthinkable.

On peaks imagination cannot tread,
In the horizons of a tireless sight,
Under a blue veil of eternity
The splendours of ideal Mind were seen
Outstretched across the boundaries of things known.
Origin of the little that we are,
Instinct with the endless more that we must be,
A prop of all that human strength enacts,
Creator of hopes by earth unrealised,
It spreads beyond the expanding universe;
It wings beyond the boundaries of Dream,
It overtops the ceiling of life's soar.
Awake in a luminous sphere unbound by Thought,
Exposed to omniscient immensities,
It casts on our world its great crowned influences,
Its speed that outstrips the ambling of the hours,
Its force that strides invincibly through Time,
Its mights that bridge the gulf twixt man and God,
Its lights that combat Ignorance and Death.
In its vast ambit of ideal Space
Where beauty and mightiness walk hand in hand,
The Spirit's truths take form as living Gods
And each can build a world in its own right.


77
77
Appendix 2

The Myth of the Dawn and the forgotten Path.

The Path of the Vedic Dawn was seen as based on the union of the human and
the divine mind. It comes from beyond, from the regions of the Sun, impelled by
the God Savitar. The Dawn comes down creating the world of Svar on her way,
as it were, filling it with the Rays of the Sun. It is the world between the
Supramental and our ordinary human intelligence says Sri Aurobindo. This
world of the Rays of the Sun is depicted as a triple heaven of the God Savitar. In
Sri Aurobindos terminology these regions are called the Higher Mind, the
Illumined Mind and the Intuitive Mind which thus lead us to the Overmind the
first outflow or an outburst of the Supermind. Sri Aurobindo himself thought
that the Overmind was that Supramental Consciousness for quit some time, until
he realized after descending into the abysses of Inconscient that there was
another realm behind it, which was a true Supermind, for it had a power to
change the Inconscient. The Overmental consciousness is thus the closest to the
Supermental, defusing its light into the lower creation. It is the realm of the
Dynamic Truth, called in the Veda Ritam, (truth covered by the truth)
90
, which
alone has access to and therefore can transform our lower dynamic nature into its
divine prototype. All these realms of the Mind are closely associated with the
human mind, in fact they are an extension of it, we may say, into the higher
realms of consciousness. Or we can rather say that our mind is an extension of
the Supermind. Sri Aurobindo confirms it by saying that we cannot really know
our mind and how it actually operates until we reach to the Supermind. It is in
the Supremind that the secret of our mentality lies, it is there that it will be
discovered as a dynamic link to the beyond which was well known to the Vedic
Rishis and as such was always referred to and consciously invoked for by them
to change our consciousness here in the body.

The arrival of the Dawn brings with it the Divine Light from the beyond into our
lower darkened mentality thus effectuating its transformation. Dawn is depicted
in the Veda as a Face of the Divine Mother, Aditi, aditerankam. All great
universal godheads are her sons, called Adityas, the inhabitants of the

90
In the hymn to Mitra and Varuna RV 5.062.01 the Rishi invokes them in this way:
r tna rtm pihita dhruv v s

ryasya ytra vimucnti vn

da at

sah tasthus td ka dev

n rha vpum apayam /

By the Truth is veiled that ever-standing Truth of yours where they unyoke the
horses of the Sun; there the ten hundreds stand still together; That One,I have
beheld the greatest of the embodied gods.




78
78
Overmental realms. It is through them and with their help that She does her
Sacrificial work here: pouring her supreme light into us. These godheads are her
faculties and powers, her children: Mitra and Varuna, Aryaman, Bhaga, Indra,
Vishnu, etc. All of them are solar deities diffusing her light into lower creation.
With a failure of the ancient Yoga of the Veda to transform our nature (and the
reasons were few)
91
the path of the transformation was gradually forgotten, and
the dynamic link was finally lost. This became a ground for a paradigm shift in
the spiritual life of mankind. The focus was thus shifted to the achievement of
the Absolute, introducing the concepts of Mukti and Mayavada, in terms of
escape from the bodily life. Thus the real meaning of the transformation
symbolized by the Vedic Sacrifice, which was practiced as a surrender of our
human nature to the rays of the Dawn, the dynamic truth of the godheads of
Svar, who were leading man beyond his limited mentality to the Supramental
consciousness and to conquest of Immortality was forgotten and fell into
oblivion; it became an ancient Myth, leaving behind only an extensive system
rituals as the remnants of its glorious past.

No wonder how these great godheads became forgotten, for they were not
acquired anymore, unwanted they withdrew their influence from the action over
our mentality. Another path was established to bypass them and all their
Dynamic realms of Truth, tam, and to go straight to the Absolute, leaving the
sacrificial ground here to the rituals, forgetting the promise we have made to
transform this darkened Nature, running away from the toil and the tardy steps
of evolution, destroying all what was done before by the ages of the Sacrifice, in
order to become empty and to drop the body with its imperfect life and puppet
mind, returning back home to the glorious beginning empty handed.
And we must say that there was no other possibility to justify the existence of the
Spirit, since the dynamic realms were no more a target and priority; there was no
other task, no even question about transformation of life here, for it was already
known as an impossible path. The word immortality has lost its significance
and its original meaning of transforming life here in the body and started to
mean the state beyond body, life and mind. The only thing, which remained for
the spiritual seekers, was to drop their half conscious nature as soon as possible
and to return home where there was no suffering anymore.
It is interesting to note here that Sri Aurobindo himself could not find a language
suitable for the description of his own spiritual experiences, because they had
this particular Vedic character of dynamic realms of the Truth, though he knew
well the Gita and the Upanishads. But neither the Upanishads nor the Gita really
could give him a language suitable for the description of his own states of

91
One of the reasons was that the development of the Psychic being was yet to take place. It is only when it
became developed enough that it could be discovered and uplifted by the godheads to these higher realms
of consciousness, where they all abide, for they are the powers of the soul on the Universal level of
Consciousness.


79
79
consciousness, for they did not deal with or describe those experiences directly.
It is only in the Veda that he found a confirmation to his own spiritual experience
as the Ancient Path of the Rishis, which he himself discovered: the Path of a
dynamic Truth, Ritam.

Now he had to bring this lost and forgotten path back to humanity and to
reactivate the link with the triple Svar (Higher, Illumined and Intuitive Mind),
bringing it to the Overmind and the Supermind as the realms of the dynamic
Truth, which alone can transform our earthly nature.
A new and ancient Path was rediscovered again: a possibility of a true
transformation and the divine life.


Appendix 3

On Ritam
RV 4.23 i: vmadeva gautama; devat: indra, 8-10 indra or ta; chanda: triup

+6F4 |( H6- B|-6 94l +6F4 l|6 4|=+l|+ (|-6
+6F4 VlTl 4|l 66( TTl 4l+- HPl+ Hl4l- + -( <

r tsya h urdha snti prv

r r tsya dhtr vr jin

ni hanti
r tsya lko badhir

tatarda kr budhn ucmna y 4.023.08

Interpretation:
The Dynamic truth Ritam has the nourishing streams of consciousness.
Many sided Thought of Ritam destroys the crookednesses of our being (or the
pens where the cows are locked).
The Word from the realms of Ritam breaks the ears of a deaf, making him wake
up, making his life energy shine again.

+6F4 7(l 6Tl|+ B|-6 9-|T -l 499 49|9
+6+ (lP 9T-6 9 +6+ l4 +6P Hl |44H- + -(

r tsya drh

dharni santi pur

i candr

vpue vpi
r tna drghm iaanta p ka r tna g

va r tm

viveu 4.023.09

Interpretation:
The foundations of Rita are firm, having many gleaming lights and beautiful
forms for the beautiful!


80
80
It is by the power of Rita that the forces of life (horses) move afar. It is by the
power of Rita that the rays of knowledge (cows) come back to Rita again.

Vocabulary:
dharua, 1 mf()n. bearing, holding, supporter RV. VS. AV. n. basis, foundation, firm
ground (also pl.) prop, stay, receptacle RV. AV.

+6 4Pl+ +6P ( 4+lt4 +6F4 H!PB 64l 7 -4-
+6l4 94l 4 l +6l4 + 9P (l6 + -( {

r t yemn r tm d vanoti r tsya mas turay

u gavy
r t

ya pr thv

bahul gabhr r t

ya dhen

param duhte 4.023.10

Interpretation:
The one, who has expanded to Rita, indeed is enjoying Rita. For the Power of
Rita is seeking the Rays of Light with energy!
It is for the purpose of Rita that Heaven and Earth are growing great and deep. It
is for Rita that they become the supreme nourishers yielding the milk for us.
Here is an explanation for growing in depth of the physical and mental
consciousness of man. It is for Ritam that they grow deep and great. It is with
Ritam they have this connection and possibility of growth.

Vocabulary:
urudh, f. pl. (prob. connected with dh) invigorating draughts, healing herbs , any
refreshment or comfort RV.
dhti, f. thought, idea, reflection, intention, devotion , prayer (pl. also personified ; cf. 2.
dh) RV. TBr. &c.; pl. wisdom, understanding (Naigh. ii , 5 and Sy. `" the fingers "') RV.
badhira mfn. (sometimes written vadhira) deaf RV. &c. &c.
td, cl. 7. (impf. atat pf. tatarda, p. A. tatdna ; aor. atardt; fut. tardiyati) to cleave,
pierce RV.; to split open, let out, set free RV.
budhna, mfn. awaking , rousing RV. iv , 51 , 8 , vii , 68 , 9
vapus, mfn. having form or a beautiful form , embodied , handsome , wonderful RV. n.
form , figure , (esp.) a beautiful form or figure , wonderful appearance , beauty (vapue
ind. for beauty ) RV. &c. &c.
pka, mfn. (either connected with pni, pat, or fr. 1. pc) spotted, dappled (others `"
fleet , swift "' ; others , having or bringing food "') m. a spotted (or a swift &c.) horse
(others `" beast of burden "' ; others `" food , nourishment , abundance "') RV.
pk f. (nom. wanting ; prob. fr. 1. pc) refreshment , satiation , nourishment , food RV.
drgha, mfn. long (in space and time), lofty , high , tall deep RV. AV. Br.
iaaya, Nom. A1. (3. pl. iaayanta RV. x , 67 , 8) to move , excite.
ian, n. (loc. {iai} RV. ii , 2 , 9) streaming out , pouring out , giving (wealth).
uma, m. hissing , roaring , rushing (of water , fire , the wind &c.) RV. AV. exhalation
strength , vigour , vital or sexual energy , impulse , courage , valour ib. AV. TBr.
Turay mfn. going quickly RV. iv , 23 , 10.
gavyu, mfn. desirous of or delighting in cows RV. desirous of milk or of battle RV.


81
81

RV 5-67 i: yajata treya;
devat: mitrvaru;
chanda: anuup

47 tl (4 |+!T6P Hl|(t4l 4=6 4(6
46T |Pl4P+ 4|9U P HlHl + --\-{

Hl 4( 4l|+ |('44 46T |P B(-
6ll 9Tl+l 4-6 BV |Hl(Bl + --\--

|4H |( |4H4(Bl 46Tl |Pl H4Pl
6l 9(4 B| 9l|-6 Pt4 |9- + --\-(

6 |( Bt4l +6F9H +6l4l+l =+ -=+
B+llB- B(l+4l 5(lH |( 7644- + --\-

Tl + 4lP |PlF66l 46Tl 4l 6++lP
66 B 4lP 996 P|6 H|-4 996 P|6- + --\--










82
82
The Twin Upholders and Protectors

Mitra and Varuna perfect the vastness of the superconscient being which is the
object of sacrifice; they possess the full abundance of its force. When they reach
that luminous origin and home, they give men, labourers in the sacrificial work,
its peace and bliss; on the way to it they protect the mortal from his spiritual
enemies who would stand in the way of his immortality; for they keep firm to
their higher workings and to the seats of the higher consciousness to which those
workings belong and to which man rises in his ascent; universal and all-knowing
they destroy these enemies who are the forces of egoism and limiting ignorance.
True in their being, they are the powers that possess and touch the Truth in each
individual being; leaders of the journey and the battle they create the wideness of
that higher consciousness even out of our narrow and distressed mortality. It is
that highest which the thought in the Atris desires and reaches to by affirming
Mitra, Varuna and Aryaman, the godheads, in the bodies inhabited by the
human soul.

47 tl (4 |+!T6P Hl|(t4l 4=6 4(6
46T |Pl4P+ 4|9U P HlHl + --\-{

b itth

deva nikr tm

dity yajatm br ht
vrua mtra ryaman vriha katrm athe 5.067.01


1. In truth, O godheads, ye two sons of the infinite Mother, rightly perfected by
you is the Vastness for which we sacrifice. O Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, you
possess its most abundant force.

Interpretation:
There is a grammatical difficulty here, the , you two gain, is in dual. as well
as deva-dity, whereas in the second line the three gods: Varuna, Mitra and
Aryaman are invoked.

Vocabulary:
ba, ind. in truth , certainly (Sy.= satyam) RV.
itth, (often used in the Rig-veda , and sometimes only to lay stress on a following word
; therefore by native etymologists [Nir.] considered as a particle of affirmation.) ; itth is
often connected with words expressing devotion to the gods &c. in the sense of thus ,
truly , really




83
83
Hl 4( 4l|+ |('44 46T |P B(-
6ll 9Tl+l 4-6 BV |Hl(Bl + --\--

yd yni hirayya vrua mtra sdatha

dhart

r caran

yant sumn ridas 5.067.02

2. When you enter into your original home of golden light, O Varuna, O Mitra,
upholders of men in their labour, destroyers of the enemy, reach for them the
bliss.

Interpretation:
When you settle in you Origin full of golden light [inside us], O Varuna and
Mitra, [then you are] upholding [us] who are doing here the sacrificial work. O
Distroyers of enemies, stretch out your perfect Thought of Grace for us!

Vocabulary:
hirayaya, mf()n. golden, abounding in gold;
yoni, m. only in RV;
sumna, mfn. benevolent, kind, gracious, favourable RV. x , 5 , 3 ; n. benevolence,
favour, grace RV. TS.; devotion, prayer, hymn RV. ; satisfaction, peace, joy, happiness
ib.
yantam, Imp. 2 pers., dual., from root yam Ved., stretch you two.


|4H |( |4H4(Bl 46Tl |Pl H4Pl
6l 9(4 B| 9l|-6 Pt4 |9- + --\-(

vve h vivvedaso vruo mitr aryam

vrat

padva sacire p

nti mrtiya ri 5.067.03

3. Universal and all-knowing are Varuna and Mitra and Aryaman; they keep
firm to the law of their workings, even as to the seats to which they arrive, and
guard mortal man from his foes.

Interpretation:
It is a description from the point of view of the evolving consciousness of the
individual. First of all how could Varuna and Mitra arrive at their seats and
follow the laws of their workings, protecting mortals from their enemies, if they


84
84
are already those godheads on those plains of consciousness? Why they should
protect the mortal from his foes?
It is because they are seen from within mans unillumined consciousness that
they finally can arrive at or climb to their own Throne, or level of consciousness
in man, protecting him from his foes. Since Varuna and Mitra are on all the levels
of consciousness they also journey with the soul of man, introducing it to the
higher realms of its own.


Vocabulary:
sac/sac, (connected with 2. sajj, saj, sakh; cf. sap) 1 A. to be associated or united
with , have to do with , be familiar with , associate one's self with (instr.) RV. AV. be
possessed of, enjoy (instr. or acc.) ib.; to take part or participate in, suffer, endure
(instr.) RV. to he connected with; to fall to the lot of (acc. S3Br. ; to be together RV.
AV.; to go after, follow, accompany, adhere or be attached to (acc.) RV.

6 |( Bt4l +6F9H +6l4l+l =+ -=+
B+llB- B(l+4l 5(lH |( 7644- + --\-

t h saty

r tasp a r t

vno jne-jane
sunth

sa sud

navo ah cid uruckraya 5.067.04

4. For because they are true in their being, they touch the Truth and hold the
Truth in creature and creature; perfect leaders in the journey, perfect in force for
the battle, they create the wideness even out of this narrow being.

Interpretation:
That is why the Rishi says about Mitra and Varuna: For they are in touch with
the Truth, masters of the Truth in every human being born in the earthly body.
They are the leaders in their inner journey, and generous givers of the divine
wealth, sudnava, and they are creating the wideness of the greater mind in the
narrow space of human mentality.

Vocabulary:
sudnu, mfn. pouring out or bestowing abundantly , bounteous , munificent (said of
various gods) RV. AV.
urucakri, mfn. (fr. k) , doing or effecting large work or great wealth, granting ample
assistance RV. ii , 26 , 4; v , 67 , 4




85
85
Tl + 4lP |PlF66l 46Tl 4l 6++lP
66 B 4lP 996 P|6 H|-4 996 P|6- + --\--

k n vm mitra stuto vruo v tan

nm
tt s vm ate matr tribhya ate mat 5.067.05

5. Which of you, O Mitra, is unaffirmed, thou or Varuna, in our bodies?
92

Wholly our thought seeks That from you, That for the Enjoyers
93
our Thought
desires.

Interpretation:
Here the symbolism of these godheads being affirmed in the consciousness of
human beings becomes completely revealed. Who of you is not yet fully
established in the consciousness of these bodies (levels of consciousness)? Our
thought is seeking well that establishment of yours! For the Travelers on the Path
it seeks it.


Appendix

On Aryaman
94


Aryaman, third of the four great solar godheads, is the least prominent of them
all in the invocations of the seers. No separate hymn is addressed to him and, if
his name occurs not unfrequently, it is in scattered verses; there is no strong body
of Riks from which we can construct firmly our idea of his functions or
recompose his physiognomy. Most often he is simply invoked by his bare name
along with Mitra and Varuna or in the larger group of the sons of Aditi, almost
always in adjunction to other kindred deities. Still there are half a dozen or more
half-riks from which his one chief and characteristic action emerges accompanied
by the usual epithets of the Lords of the Truth, epithets expressive of Knowledge,
Joy, Infinity and Power.

In the later tradition the name of Aryaman is placed at the head of the Fathers to
whom as their appropriate offering is given the symbolic food, the pia of the

92
Not the physical body only; the soul dwells here in five sheaths or embodyings.
93
The Atris,literally, eaters; the word may also mean Travellers.

94
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86
86
Puranic funeral and memorial rites. In the Puranic traditions the Fathers are of
two classes, divine and human, the latter being the ancestors, the Manes. But it is
in connection with the Fathers as the souls who have attained to heaven, to
immortality that we must think of Aryaman. Krishna in the Gita, enumerating
the chief powers or manifestations of the eternal Godhead in things and beings,
speaks of himself as Ushanas among the seers, Bhrigu among the Rishis, Vyasa
among the sages, Vishnu among the children of Aditi, Aryaman among the
Fathers. Now in the Veda the Fathers are the ancient illumined ones who
discovered the Knowledge, created and followed the Path, reached the Truth,
conquered Immortality; and in the few Riks in which Aryaman's separate
personality emerges, it is as the God of the Path that he is hymned.
His name Aryaman, kin etymologically to the words arya, rya, ari, by which are
distinguished the men or peoples who follow the Vedic culture and the Gods
who assist them in their battles and their aspirations, is similarly indicative. The
Aryan is the traveller on the Path, the aspirant to immortality by divine sacrifice,
one of the shining children of Light, a worshipper of the Masters of the Truth, a
fighter in the battle against the powers of darkness who obstruct the human
journey. Aryaman is the godhead in whose divine power this Aryahood is
rooted; he is this Force of sacrifice, aspiration, battle, journey towards perfection
and light and celestial bliss by which the path is created, travelled, pursued
beyond all resistance and obscuration to its luminous and happy goal.
In consequence, the action of Aryaman takes up the attributes of Mitra and
Varuna as leaders of the Path. This Force fulfils the happy impulsions of that
Light and Harmony and the movement of infinite knowledge and power of that
pure Vastness. Like Mitra and Varuna he makes men travel on the path; he is full
of the perfect happiness of Mitra; he is complete in the will and the works of
sacrifice; he and Varuna distinguish the path for mortals. He is like Varuna a
godhead manifold in his births; like him he oppresses the wrath of the hurter of
men. It is by the great path of Aryaman that we shall cross beyond the souls of a
false or evil thought who obstruct our path. Aditi, mother of the Kings, and
Aryaman carry us by paths of a happy travelling beyond all inimical powers. The
man who seeks the straightness of Mitra's and Varuna's workings and by the
force of the word and the affirmation embraces their law with all his being, is
guarded in his progress by Aryaman.

But the Rik most distinctive of the function of Aryaman is that which describes
him as Aryaman of the unbroken path, of the many chariots, who dwells as
the sevenfold offerer of sacrifice in births of diverse forms. He is the deity of
the human journey who carries it forward in its irresistible progress which the
attacks of the enemy cannot overcome or successfully interrupt so long as this
divine Force is our leader. The journey is effected through a manifold movement
of our evolution, the many chariots of Aryaman. It is the journey of the human
sacrifice which has a sevenfold energy of its action because there is a sevenfold


87
87
principle in our being which has to be fulfilled in its integral perfection;
Aryaman is the master of the sacrificial action who offers this sevenfold
working to the godheads of the Divine Birth. Aryaman within us develops our
various forms of birth in the ascending planes of our existence by which the
Fathers climbed, travellers on his path, and by which it must be the aspiration of
the Aryan soul to climb, to the highest summit of Immortality.

Thus Aryaman sums up in himself the whole aspiration and movement of man
in a continual self-enlargement and self-transcendence to his divine perfection.
By his continuous movement on the unbroken path Mitra and Varuna and the
sons of Aditi fulfil themselves in the human birth.

If Varuna can be seen as a Universal traveler on the Path, and Mitra as the very
Path and the force by which we travel then Aryaman can be seen as a power
supporting a human traveler, working out the details of his births in the journey
to the Divine Birth. We have to undergo many changes, many different births
within ourselves, so he is the master of the sacrificial action who offers this
sevenfold working to the godheads of the Divine Birth. He develops within us
our various forms of birth in the ascending planes of our existence by which the
Fathers climbed, travellers on his path, and by which it must be the aspiration of
the Aryan soul to climb, to the highest summit of Immortality.

Aryaman fulfils the happy impulsions of that Light and Harmony of Mitra
and the movement of infinite knowledge and power of that pure Vastness of
Varuna, he makes man travel on the path: ascend to the higher realms. He makes
man change and be born on every level of this ascent. It is a power of Arya of
always ascending and growing consciousness.

On Bhaga

The goal of the path is the divine beatitude, the illimitable joy of the Truth, of
the infinity of our being. Bhaga is the godhead who brings this joy and
supreme felicity into the human consciousness; he is the divine enjoyer in
man. All being has this divine enjoyment of existence for its aim and end,
whether it seeks for it with knowledge or with ignorance, with the divine
strength or the weakness of our yet undeveloped powers. On Bhaga the strong
calls for his increasing, on Bhaga he who has not the strength; then he moves
towards the Delight. Let us call in the Dawn on Bhaga strong and victorious,
the son of Aditi who is the wide-upholder, on whom the afflicted and the fighter
and the king meditate and they say to the Enjoyer, Give us thy enjoyment. Let
it be the divine Enjoyer who possesses the enjoyment and by him let us be its
possessors; to thee every man calls, O Bhaga; do thou become, O Enjoyer, the
leader of our journey. An increasing and victorious felicity of the soul


88
88
rejoicing in the growth of its divine possessions which gives us strength to
journey on and overcome till we reach the goal of our perfection in an infinite
beatitude, this is the sign of the birth of Bhaga in man and this his divine
function.
All enjoyment comes indeed from Bhaga Savitri, the mortal as well as the divine;
creating a wide and vast force he brings forth for men their mortal enjoyment.
But the Vedic ideal is the inclusion of all life and all joy, divine and human, the
wideness and plenty of earth and the vastness and abundance of heaven, the
treasures of the mental, vital, physical existence uplifted, purified, perfected in
the form of the infinite and divine Truth. It is this all-including felicity which is
the gift of Bhaga. The Enjoyer is to be called on by men because he has many
riches and ordains perfectly all delights,the thrice seven delights upheld by
him in the being of his mother Aditi. It is by creating in us the wide and vast
force, it is when the Divine as Bhaga, Pushan, Aditi, the infinite, the undivided
puts on the radiances of the infinite consciousness like a robe and distributes
without division all desirable boons that divine felicity comes to us in its fullness.
Then he gives to the human being full enjoyment of that greatest delight.
Therefore Vasishtha cries to him, O Bhaga, our leader, Bhaga who hast the
wealth of the Truth, giving unto us, raise up and increase, O Bhaga, this thought
in us,the Truth-thought by which the felicity is attained.
Bhaga is Savitri the Creator, he who brings forth from the unmanifest Divine the
truth of a divine universe, dispelling from us the evil dream of this lower
consciousness in which we falter amidst a confused tangle of truth and
falsehood, strength and weakness, joy and suffering. An infinite being delivered
out of imprisoning limits, an infinite knowledge and strength receiving in
thought and working out in will a divine Truth, an infinite beatitude possessing
and enjoying all without division, fault or sin, this is the creation of Bhaga
Savitri, this that greatest Delight.
95


On Four Kings

This creation of the divine Creator goddess Aditi speaketh forth to us, this the
all-kings Varuna and Mitra and Aryaman with one mind and heart. The four
Kings find themselves fulfilled with their infinite Mother by the delightful
perfection in man of Bhaga the Enjoyer, the youngest and greatest of them all.
Thus is the divine creation of the fourfold Savitri founded on Varuna,
combined and guided by Mitra, achieved by Aryaman, enjoyed in Bhaga: Aditi
the infinite Mother realises herself in the human being by the birth and works
of her glorious children.
96


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89
89
RV 5-68
.i: yajata treya;
devat: mitrvaru;
chanda: gyatr

9 4l |Pl4 l46 46Tl4 |49l |l
P|(l4 +6P 4(6 + --\<-{

BBl=l 4l 64l+l |PH l l 46TH
(4l (49 9HF6l + --\<--

6l +- H16 9l|4F4 P(l l4l |(-4F4
P|( 4l (49 + --\<-(

+6P +6+ B9-6|9 (P HlHl6
H(l (4l 46 + --\<-

4|7Hl4l lt4l99B 96l (l+Pt4l-
4(-6 6P HlHl6 + --\<--






90
90
The Lords of the Great Force

Because they hold the great battle-force of the Truth, Mitra and Varuna lead us to
the vastness of that Truth. By that force they rule all imperially, contain the
Truth's clarities and their powers are manifested in all the godheads. Therefore
should they put forth their power in these godheads for the human possession of
the great felicity and wealth of the Truth in earth and heaven. They reach the
Truth by the Truth; for they have its discernment full of the impulsion that goes
straight to the knowledge; therefore they increase divinely without falling into
the harms of the Ignorance. As lords of that powerful impulsion they bring down
the heavens in a luminous rain upon the mortal and take possession of the vast
as a home.

Interpretation:
They reach the Truth by the Truth, because their perception itself has the
impulsion which goes straight to knowledge, the very power of their perception
is driving them towards the Truth; and thus they can increase the divine
presence here without falling into the harms of the Ignorance. This characteristic
of perception which has an impulsion towards knowledge is very significant. It
means that any perception they may have is looking for knowledge naturally
and spontaneously, it does not have to remember it or consciously consecrate it
to knowledge. It comes from within the perception itself. It is as if this
perception is built by the higher consciousness, which has a tendency to see the
truth in all things.

9 4l |P l4 l46 46Tl4 |49l |l P|(l4 +6P 4(6 + --\<-{

pr vo mitr

ya gyata vruya vip

gir

mhikatrv r tm br ht 5.068.01

1. Sing ye to Mitra and Varuna with the word that enlightens; because they have
that great force, theirs is the Truth, the Vast.

Interpretation:
Sing your song towards your Mitra and Varuna with the inspired voice of your
soul! to them who have the great force, which is true and vast.
Here we have the statement of ta bhad as a part of Sri Aurobindos vision of
satyam ta bhad.

Vocabulary:
vip, mfn. inwardly stirred or excited, inspired RV. f. easily moved or bent, flexible (?), a
switch, rod &c., the shaft (of an arrow), the rods (which form the bottom of the Soma
filter, and support the straining cloth) RV.


91
91


BBl=l 4l 64l+l |PH l l 46TH (4l (49 9HF6l + --\<--

samr

j y

ghr tyon mitr cobh

vrua ca
dev

devu praast

5.068.02

2. All-rulers are they, yes, both of them, Mitra and Varuna, homes of the clarity,
gods, manifested by the word in the gods.

Interpretation and notes:
The word ghta-yoni, Bah. compound, Sri Aurobindo translates as Bahuvrihi
itself: homes of the clarity, which lit. means whose home is clarity.
The words deveu praast (ppp of pra-as) he translates as manifested by the
word in the gods, which otherwise can be simply translated as praised among
the gods.

Vocabulary:
ghtayoni, mfn. abiding or living in ghee (Agni , the sacrifice) RV. iii , 4 , 2 ; producing
fertilizing rain or welfare (Mitra and Varua , Vishu) RV. v , 68 , 2 VS. v , 38.


6l +- H16 9l|4F4 P (l l4l |(-4F4 P|( 4l (49 + --\<-(

t

na aktam p

rthivasya mah ry diviysya

mhi v katr devu 5.068.03

3. Therefore put forth strength for our great felicity
97
heavenly and earthly; for
great is your force in the gods.

Vocabulary:
ak, 5. P., to be strong or powerful, be able to or capable of or competent for (with acc.
dat. or loc. , rarely acc. of a verbal noun , or with an inf. in {am} or{tum}; or with pr.
p.) ; to be strong or exert one's self for another (dat.); aid , help , assist RV. vii , 67 , 5


+6P +6+ B9-6|9 (P HlHl6
H(l (4l 46 + --\<-

97
The felicity or happy wealth of the wide Truth-consciousness manifested not only in
the higher mental planes of our consciousness, but in our physical being.


92
92

r tm r tna spant iir dkam te
adrh deva vardhete 5.068.04

4. By the Truth you attain knowledge of the Truth, you possess a judgment of
impelling force;
98
O gods, you grow and come not to hurt.

Interpretation and notes:
Sri Aurobindo translates iira- as an adjective of impelling force for dakam as
judgment and adruh, as they who come not to hurt. Daka is the fifth of the
original Adityas following after Bhaga. He represents the Power of Supramental
Discrimination. It is he who will bring into manifestation all other powers of the
Divine Mother.

We have therefore three possible senses for daka in the Veda, strength
generally, mental power or especially the power of judgment, discernment.
Daka is continually associated with kratu; the Rishis aspire to them together,
dakya kratve, which may mean simply, capacity and effective power or will
and discernment. Continually we find the word occurring in passages where
the whole context relates to mental activities. Finally, we have the goddess
Dakshina who may well be a female form of Daksha, himself a god and
afterwards in the Purana one of the Prajapatis, the original progenitors,we
have Dakshina associated with the manifestation of knowledge and sometimes
almost identified with Usha, the divine Dawn, who is the bringer of illumination.
I shall suggest that Dakshina like the more famous Ila, Saraswati and Sarama, is
one of four goddesses representing the four faculties of the Ritam or Truth-
consciousness,Ila representing truth-vision or revelation, Saraswati truth-
audition, inspiration, the divine word, Sarama intuition, Dakshina the separative
intuitional discrimination. Daksha then will mean this discrimination whether as
mental judgment on the mind-plane or as intuitional discernment on the plane of
the Ritam.
99




98
The straight impulsion which the gods possess; man, moving from the ignorance to
the Truth by the ignorance, follows a crooked and wavering movement, has a judgment
distressed by the falsehood and in his growth stumbles constantly into sin and suffering.
By the growth of the gods in him, he is able to move without stumbling and suffering
from Truth to greater Truth, straight, felicitously.
99
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It is interesting to note here that these four faculties of the Supermind are: seeing,
hearing and intuition (to follow what is invisible as Sarama does) and discrimination (to
discern the visual content of form), which ideally corresponds to the two perceptive
faculties of sight and hearing with their two active counterparts of action.


93
93
Aditi is originally the pure consciousness of infinite existence one and self-
luminous; she is the Light that is Mother of all things. As the infinite she gives
birth to Daksha, the discriminating and distributing Thought of the divine
Mind, and is herself born to Daksha as the cosmic infinite, the mystic Cow
whose udders feed all the worlds.
It is this divine daughter of Daksha who is the mother of the gods. In the cosmos
Aditi is the undivided infinite unity of things, free from the duality, advaya, and
has Diti the separative dualising consciousness for the obverse side of her cosmic
creation,her sister and a rival wife in the later myth.
100


Vocabulary:
iira, mfn. refreshing, fresh flourishing vigorous, active, quick RV. AV. VS.; (-am) ind.
quickly RV. x , 157 , 5
sap, (cf. sac); 1. P. sapati, A, to follow or seek after, be devoted to, honour, serve ,
love, caress (also sexually) RV. TS. VS.;
adruh, (nom. a-dhruk) mfn. free from malice or treachery RV.


4|7Hl4l lt4l99B 96l (l+Pt4l-
4(-6 6P HlHl6 + --\<--

vr dyv rtp is pt d

numaty
br hnta grtam te 5.068.05

5. Turning heaven to rain, winners of the streaming movement, masters of that
forceful impulsion, you take possession of your vast home.

Interpretation and notes:
Vi-dyv, Bah., lit. whose heaven is rain;
Rty-ap, Bah, whose waters are in motion;
The two lords of the generous forceful impulsion dnumaty ias pat.

Vocabulary:
rtyap, mfn. streaming with water RV.
i, [-] f. anything drunk, a draught, refreshment, enjoyment libation the refreshing
waters of the sky, sap, strength, freshness, comfort, increase good condition, affluence
RV. AV. VS. AitBr.
dnumat, mfn. trickling, fluid ib.

100
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94
94
dnu, mfn. valiant, victor, conqueror W.; m. a class of demons (cf. dnava) RV. (f. , i ,
54 , 7); n. a fluid, drop, dew (-naspat m. du. of Mitra-Varuna or of the Avins RV. viii ,
256 ; 8 , 16 ;)

Appendix

The Dawn and the powers of Aditi.

The Dawn bri ngs the li ght from the Transcendental into the lower
hemi sphere of our darkened existence of mind, li fe and body. She is
fi rst who introduces li ght i nto the Darkness after which the Creator,
God Savitar comes and then Surya i s fi nall y reveal ing hi s body of
li ght.

Sri Aurobindo explai ns their relations i n the Secret of the Veda in
thi s way: He (Surya) i s the l i ght of the Truth ri si ng on the human
consci ousness i n the wake of the divine Dawn whom he pursues as a
lover foll ows after hi s bel oved and he treads the paths she has
traced for hi m. For Dawn the daughter of Heaven, the face or power
of Aditi , i s the constant openi ng out of the divi ne li ght upon the
human bei ng; she is the coming of the spi ritual ri ches, a l i ght, a
power, a new birth, the pouring out of the gol den treasure of heaven
into hi s earthl y exi stence.

So Dawn i s the power of Aditi and al l her powers are the solar
deiti es, call ed in the Veda Adityas, they are Varuna, Mitra,
Aryaman, Bhaga, Daksha, Ansha and Surya or Savitar. These seven
chil dren of Aditi are the guardi ans of that supreme Light. It is with
the hel p of these godheads and thei r acti on that the Divine Mother
mani fests the Supreme in time and space. There was though the
ei ghth son known as Vivasvat or Martanda, who descended i nto the
mortal regi ons of Darkness. Sri Aurobi ndo speaks about this Myth
in the chapter The Guardians of Li ght:
We are tol d that there are ei ght sons of the cosmic Aditi who are
born from her body; by seven she moves to the gods, but the ei ghth
son is Martanda, of the mortal creati on, whom she casts away from
her; with the seven she moves to the supreme l i fe, the ori ginal age
of the gods, but Martanda is brought back out of the Inconsci ent
into whi ch he had been cast to preside over mortal bi rth and death.
This Martanda or ei ghth Surya i s the black or dark, the l ost, the
hidden sun. The Titans have taken and conceal ed hi m in thei r
cavern of darkness and thence he must be rel eased into spl endour


95
95
and freedom by the gods and seers through the power of the
sacri fi ce.

On the Adityas and other Gods.

Aditi i s the infi ni te Li ght of whi ch the divi ne world i s a formati on
and the gods, chi ldren of the i nfi nite Li ght, born of her i n the Ritam,
mani fested i n that active truth of her movement guard it against
Chaos and Ignorance.
101
These are the Guardi ans of Li ght, the
godheads who bring the hi gher l i ght and i nfuse i t i nto the darkness
of the l ower creation. It i s they who maintai n the invinci bl e
workings of the Truth i n the universe, they who buil d its worlds
into an image of the Truth. They, bounteous givers, l oose out upon
man its fl oods vari ousl y i maged by the mysti c poets as the
sevenfold solar waters, the rai n of heaven, the streams of the Truth,
the seven mi ghty Ones of heaven, the waters that have knowl edge,
the fl oods that breaking through the control of Vritra the Coverer
ascend and overfl ow the mind. They, seers and reveal ers, make the
li ght of the Truth to arise on the darkened sky of his mental ity, fil l
with its l uminous and honey-sweet satisfactions the atmosphere of
hi s vital exi stence, transform into its vastness and pl eni tude by the
power of the Sun the earth of hi s physi cal being, create everywhere
the divi ne Dawn.
102


Thi s creati on of the divi ne Creator goddess Aditi speaketh forth to
us, thi s the al l-kings Varuna and Mitra and Aryaman wi th one mind
and heart. The four Ki ngs fi nd themselves ful fi ll ed with thei r
infi nite Mother by the del ightful perfecti on i n man of Bhaga the
Enj oyer, the youngest and greatest of them al l. Thus i s the divine
creation of the fourfold Savitri founded on Varuna, combined and
guided by Mitra, achi eved by Aryaman, enj oyed i n Bhaga: Aditi the
infi nite Mother reali ses hersel f i n the human being by the bi rth and
works of her gl ori ous chi ldren.
103


There i s a passage whi ch can shed some li ght on the nature of the
four Kings in The Secret of the Veda:
Still the uni on comes about by a combinati on of thei r powers and
therefore each has in it hi s own proper nature and functi on. That of

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96
96
the Four is to bui l d up the whol e divine state i nto its perfecti on by
the natural interaction of its four essential el ements.

1) The Divi ne is exi stence all -embracing, infi nite and pure; Varuna
brings to us the i nfinite oceani c space of the divi ne soul and its
ethereal, el emental purity.
2) The Divi ne is boundl ess consci ousness, perfect in knowledge,
pure and therefore l uminousl y ri ght in its di scernment of
things, perfectl y harmoni ous and happy i n its concordance of
thei r l aw and nature; Mitra brings us this li ght and harmony,
thi s ri ght di stincti on and relati on and fri endl y concord, the
happy l aws of the li berated soul concordant with itself and the
Truth i n all its ri ch thought, shi ni ng acti ons and thousandfol d
enj oyment.
3) The Divine i s in its own bei ng pure and perfect power and in us
the eternal upward tendency in thi ngs to their source and truth;
Aryaman bri ngs to us thi s mi ghty strength and perfectl y-guided
happy i nner upsurgi ng.
4) The Divi ne is the pure, the faultl ess, the all -embraci ng, the
untroubl ed ecstasy that enj oys its own infi nite bei ng and enj oys
equall y al l that it creates withi n itsel f; Bhaga gi ves us
soverei gnl y that ecstasy of the l iberated soul, its free and
unfall en possessi on of itself and the world.

This quaternary is practi call y the later essential tri nity of
Sachchidananda, Exi stence, Consci ousness, Bl iss with sel f-
awareness and self-force, Chit and Tapas, for doubl e terms of
Consci ousness; but it i s here transl ated i nto its cosmi c terms and
equival ents.

1) Varuna the King has his foundation in the all-pervading
purity of Sat;
2) Mitra the Happy and the Mighty, most beloved of the Gods,
in the all-uniting light of Chit;
3) many-charioted Aryaman in the movement and all-
discerning force of Tapas;
4) Bhaga in the all-embracing joy of Ananda.

Yet as al l these things form one i n the reali sed godhead, as each
el ement of the trinity contains the others i n itself and none of them
can exist separately from the rest, therefore each of the Four al so
possesses by force of hi s own essenti al quality every general
attribute of hi s brothers. For thi s reason i f we do not read the Veda


97
97
as carefull y as it was written, we shal l mi ss its di sti ncti ons and see
onl y the i ndi sti ngui shabl e common functi ons of these lumi nous
Ki ngs, as indeed throughout the hymns the unity in difference of
all the gods makes it diffi cult for the mi nd not accustomed to the
subtl eti es of psychol ogi cal truth to fi nd in the Vedi c diviniti es
anything but a confused mass of common or interchangeabl e
attributes. But the distinctions are there and have as great a force
and i mportance as in the Greek and Egyptian symbol ism. Each god
contains in hi msel f al l the others, but remains sti ll hi msel f i n hi s
pecul iar functi on.
104





104
Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 497



98
98
RV 5-69
i: urucakri treya;
devat: mitrvaru;
chanda: triup

l l +l 46T l 76 H+ l|T |P l4l =l|B
4l4l+l4 HP|6 |4F4l+ 6 PlTl4 H=4P + --\-{

l46l 46T +4l 4lP PP( 4l |B-4l |P
4B 6F 49 lBB |6BTl |9Tl+l 6ll |4 HP-6- + --\--

9l6 (4lP H|(|6 =l(4l|P P\4|(+ 7|(6l B4F4
l4 |Pl46Tl B46l67 6lTl4 6+4l4 H 4l- + --\-(

4l 6ll =Bl l+F4l6l|(t4l |(-4l 9l|4F4
+ 4l (4l HP6l Hl |P+|-6 6l|+ |Pl46Tl 4l|T + --\-





99
99
The Holders of the Luminous Worlds

The Rishi invokes Mitra and Varuna as the upholders of the worlds or planes of
being, especially the three luminous worlds in which the triple mental, the triple
vital, the triple physical find the light of their truth and the divine law of their
powers. The strength of the Aryan warrior is increased by them and guarded in
that imperishable law. From the luminous worlds the rivers of the truth descend
with their yield of bliss. In each of them a luminous Purusha fertilises a form of
the triple thought-consciousness of the Truth; these, which make the luminous
day of the soul, found in man the divine and infinite consciousness and in that
the divine peace and the activity by which in the extended universality of our
being there is the rich felicity and the creation of the godhead. The divine
workings are impaired and restricted by the gods in the ordinary life of the vital
and the physical being, but when Mitra and Varuna uphold in us the luminous
worlds in which each of these finds its truth and power, they become complete
and firm for ever.

l l+l 46T l 76 H+ l|T |P l4l =l|B
4l4l+l4 HP|6 |4F4l+ 6 PlTl4 H=4P + --\-{

tr

rocan

varua tr

m r ut dy

n tr

i mitra dhrayatho rjsi

vvr dhn

v amti katryasya nu vrat rkamv ajurym 5.069.01

1. Three worlds of the Light you two uphold, O Varuna, three heavens, three
mid-worlds, O Mitra, and you increase the might of the Warrior and guard him
in the imperishable law of your working.

Interpretation:
The three luminous worlds or three shining ones: tr rocan, from root ruc, to
shine are the three levels of the Svar. Sri Aurobindo translated this word
elsewhere as the three powers of Light uphold three luminous worlds divine, tr
aryam

mnuo devtt tr

rocan

divy

dhrayanta, RV 5.29.1., where the three

powers of Light are the triple status of the Supermind upholding the three
luminous worlds of the Svar, tr rocan.
Here also they are mentioned with the three heavens tr uta dyn, which Varuna
and Mitra support, dhrayatha, as well as the three spaces of the mid-worlds,
tri rajsi.
So the three worlds of the Supermind are projected into the three heavens of our
mentality and the three spaces of our vitality; and all of them are supported by


100
100
Mitra and Varuna. It is as if they penetrate it through from the beyond
influencing them with their presence, consciousness and power.
Let us compare with the passage from RV 2. 27 8-9 of the hymn dedicated to
Adityas:

tisr bh

mr dhrayan tr

m r ut dy

n tr

i vrat

vidthe antr em
r tndity mhi vo mahitv td aryaman varua mitra c

ru 2.027.08

They (Adityas) support the three earths, and the three heavens. Three are the
laws within the sacrificial gathering (inside the Antariksha). By the Truth the sons
of Infinity have their greatness great, and that is Beautiful, O Aryaman, Varuna
and Mitra.

There are three earths, three levels in the vital, and the three levels in the mind.

Mental mind, SVAR Supermind
Vital mind, MIND
Physical mind UNITY

Mental vital,
Vital vital, VITAL MANY IN ONE and ONE IN MANY
Physical vital

Mental physical, MANY
Vital physical, PHYSICAL
Physical physical

tisro bhm tri rajsi tisro dyva tr

rocan

The next passage of RV 2.27 mentions also the three luminous realms rocan:

tr

rocan

divy

dhrayanta hirayy cayo dh

rapt
svapnajo animi

dabdh urus r jve mrtiyya 2.027.09

They support also the three luminous heavenly worlds, being golden and
bright having pure streams (of immortalising Soma). They do not sleep, do not
close their eyelids, unhurt, pointing to the vastness by the word for the sincere
mortal.
Now in addition to the three spaces of mental, vital and physical nature, the
three luminous worlds are mentioned where Adityas are pure shining with
golden light, possessing the streams of the immortalising Ananda.



101
101
These three luminous realms are then recreated in the three heavens of the mind,
three spaces of the vital, and the tree levels of the physical.

tr

rocan

diviy

dhrayanta three luminous realms of the Svar

tr

m r ut dy

n three luminous realms of the Mind

tr

i vrat

vidthe antr em three sacrificial actions in the Vital

tisr bh

mr dhrayan three earths of the Physical they hold.

In our hymn these levels are stated without mentioning about tisro bhm, three
earths of the physical:

tr

rocan

varua three luminous realms of the Svar

tr

m r ut dy

n three luminous realms of the Mind

tr

i mitra dhrayatho rjsi three luminous spaces of the Vital

There are three heavens, tisro dyva, of Savitar mentioned in the RV 1.35.6, two
are his own realms and one is in the realm of Yama:
tisro dyva savitur dv upast ek yamasya bhuvane vir.

If we accept the Vedic image of the Sun of Truth, says Sri Aurobindo in The
Life Divine, an image which in this experience becomes a reality, we may
compare the action of the Higher Mind to a composed and steady sunshine, the
energy of the Illumined Mind beyond it to an outpouring of massive lightnings
of flaming sun-stuff. Still beyond can be met a yet greater power of the Truth-
Force, an intimate and exact Truth-vision, Truth-thought, Truth-sense, Truth-
feeling, Truth-action, to which we can give in a special sense the name of
Intuition; for though we have applied that word for want of a better to any
supra-intellectual direct way of knowing, yet what we actually know as intuition
is only one special movement of self-existent knowledge. This new range is its
origin; it imparts to our intuitions something of its own distinct character and is
very clearly an intermediary of a greater Truth-Light with which our mind
cannot directly communicate. At the source of this Intuition we discover a
superconscient cosmic Mind in direct contact with the supramental Truth-
Consciousness, an original intensity determinant of all movements below it and
all mental energies,not Mind as we know it, but an Overmind that covers as
with the wide wings of some creative Oversoul this whole lower hemisphere of
Knowledge-Ignorance, links it with that greater Truth-Consciousness while yet
at the same time with its brilliant golden Lid it veils the face of the greater Truth
from our sight, intervening with its flood of infinite possibilities as at once an
obstacle and a passage in our seeking of the spiritual law of our existence, its
highest aim, its secret Reality. This then is the occult link we were looking for;


102
102
this is the Power that at once connects and divides the supreme Knowledge and
the cosmic Ignorance.
105


Following this vision the three luminous realms, tr rocan, can be seen as those
coming from the Supermind to Overmind and Intuitive Mind, as three distinctly
higher realms of true light, whereas the three heavens, dyvas, which follow them
as Illumined Mind, Higher Mind and Mind, which represent the three higher
realms of the lower hemisphere.


l46l 46T +4l 4lP PP( 4l |B-4l |P
4B 6F 49 lBB |6BTl |9Tl+l 6ll |4 HP-6- + --\--

rvatr varua dhenvo vm mdhumad v sndhavo mitra duhre
tryas tasthur vr abh

sas tisr

dhin retodh

v dyumnta 5.069.02

2. Your fostering cows
106
have their streams, O Varuna, O Mitra, the rivers milk
out their honeyed yield. There stand wide three luminous Bulls
107
and cast their
seed into the three Thoughts.

Interpretation:
The fostering streams of you two, Varuna and Mitra, are of the honeyed milk
streaming in rivers.
The three Bulls stood shining, casting their seed into the three Thoughts of the
Cow. And from this conception the streams of honey fostered the creation.

What is interesting in this passage is that there are again the three Bulls casting
their seed into the three Cows, who produce the world. These can be the symbols
of a proper Supramental plane, where there is a supreme conception of the
World in a triple status.

To understand better these three Bulls conceiving three Cows, and then the tr
rocan, one has to read the chapter from The Life Divine called The Triple Status of
the Supermind. Sri Aurobindo writes about these three levels:

105
Volume: 18-19 [SABCL] (The Life Divine), Page: 277
106
Dhenava, the rivers of the Truth, as gva, the luminous cows, are the rays of its
light.
107
The Bull is the Purusha, soul or conscious being; the Cow is the Prakriti, the power of
consciousness. The creation of the godhead, the Son, comes by the fertilising of the triple
luminous consciousness by the triple luminous soul of the Truth-being so that that
higher consciousness becomes active, creative and fruitful in man.


103
103
The first founds the inalienable unity of things, the second modifies that unity
so as to support the manifestation of the Many in One and One in Many; the
third further modifies it so as to support the evolution of a diversified
individuality which, by the action of Ignorance, becomes in us at a lower level
the illusion of the separate ego.


Vocabulary:
dhiaa, f. a sort of Soma-vessel , a cup, goblet , bowl fig. the Soma juice itself and its
effects RV. (du. the two bowls or worlds i.e. heaven and earth ; pl. heaven , earth and
the intermediate atmosphere ib.) knowledge, intelligence; N. of a deity presiding over
wealth and gain (also in pl.) RV. MBh.; accord. to SA Thought.

9l6 (4lP H|(|6 =l(4l|P P\4 |(+ 7|(6l B4F4
l4 |Pl46Tl B46l67 6lTl4 6+4l4 H 4l- + --\-(

prtr dev

m diti johavmi madhydina dit s

riyasya
ry mitrvaru sarvtt

e tok

ya tnayya y 5.069.03

3. In the dawn I call to the divine Mother infinite, in the mid-day and at the rising
of the sun. I desire of Mitra and Varuna the peace and the movement in the
forming of the all
108
for felicity and for the creation and the begetting.
109


Interpretation:
In the Dawn I call constantly to the Divine Mother Aditi, and in the midday and
in the Sun. For the shining wealth for All I seek her with adoration, O Mitra and
Varuna, for peace and for creation and the birth of her Son. It is a culmination
and the meaning of this creation, the birth of the Son of Aditi, the Supreme in the
material body of man.


Vocabulary:
toka, n. (fr. tuc) offspring , children , race , child (often joined with tanaya ; rarely pl.
AV.) RV. AV.; a new-born child.
am, ind. auspiciously , fortunately , happily , well (frequently used in the Veda , rarely
in later language ; often to be translated by a subst. , esp. in the frequent phrase
ayo or ayoca, `" happiness and welfare "' , sometimes joined with the verbs
bh, as , k, y, sometimes occurring without any verb ; with dat. or gen. [cf. Pa1n2. 2-

108
The action of the sacrifice consists in the formation or extension of the universal
being, sarvatti, and of the divine being, devatti.
109
Of the Son, the godhead created within the humanity.


104
104
3 , 73 ] ; in some cases corresponding to an adj. e.g. am tad asmai, that is pleasant to
him) RV. &c. &c.
sarvatti, f. totality RV.; completeness, perfect happiness or prosperity, soundness ib.
AV.; (- loc.) ind. all together , entirely RV. (accord. to Sy. "everywhere" or "at the
sacrifice.")

4l 6ll =Bl l+F4l6l|(t4l |(-4l 9l|4F4
+ 4l (4l HP6l Hl |P+|-6 6l|+ |Pl46Tl 4l|T + --\-

y

dhart

r rjaso rocansya ut

dity

diviy

rthivasya
n v dev

am t

minanti vrat

ni mitrvaru dhruv

i 5.069.04

4. Because you are the upholders of the luminous sphere of the mid-world and
the luminous sphere of the earth, O divine Sons of Infinity, O Mitra and Varuna,
the immortal gods impair not your workings which are firm for ever.
110


Interpretation:
These are the upholders of the vital space and the luminous world of the mind
and of heaven of the earthly (space), the Adityas! It is because of you two, O
Mitra and Varuna, the immortal gods do not diminish your steady workings.


Appendix 1

The triple status of the Supermind.
111


Three powers of Light uphold three luminous worlds divine.
112

Therefore there must be a principle superior to the Mind which satisfies the
conditions in which Mind fails. No doubt, it is Sachchidananda itself that is this

110
That is, in the ordinary workings of the life-plane and the material plane, because
they are unilluminated, full of ignorance and defect, the law of our divine and infinite
being is impaired or spoiled, works under restrictions and with perversions; it manifests
fully, steadfastly and faultlessly only when the ideal, supramental truth-plane is upheld
in us by the pure wideness and harmony of Varuna and Mitra and takes up the vital and
the physical consciousness into its power and light.
111
Volume: 18-19 [SABCL] (The Life Divine), Page: 144
112
tr aryam

mnuo devtt tr

rocan

diviy

dhrayanta ( RV 5.029.01) Lit. it can be

rendered as: Aryaman upholds the three places of the Father of man in the totality of
all divine beings. And they uphold the three luminous realms, tr rocan.
Vocabulary: sarvatti, f. totality RV. completeness , perfect happiness or prosperity , soundness
ib. AV. ; (- loc.) ind. all together, entirely RV.; devatti, divinity, the gods collectively RV.



105
105
principle, but Sachchidananda not resting in its pure infinite invariable
consciousness, but proceeding out of this primal poise, or rather upon it as a base
and in it as a continent, into a movement which is its form of Energy and
instrument of cosmic creation. Consciousness and Force are the twin essential
aspects of the pure Power of existence; Knowledge and Will must therefore be
the form which that Power takes in creating a world of relations in the extension
of Time and Space. This Knowledge and this Will must be one, infinite, all-
embracing, all-possessing, all-forming, holding eternally in itself that which it
casts into movement and form. The Supermind then is Being moving out into a
determinative self-knowledge which perceives certain truths of itself and wills
to realise them in a temporal and spatial extension of its own timeless and
spaceless existence. Whatever is in its own being, takes form as self-knowledge,
as Truth-Consciousness, as Real-Idea, and, that self-knowledge being also self-
force, fulfils or realises itself inevitably in Time and Space.
This, then, is the nature of the Divine Consciousness which creates in itself all
things by a movement of its conscious-force and governs their development
through a self-evolution by inherent knowledge-will of the truth of existence or
real-idea which has formed them. The Being that is thus conscient is what we call
God; and He must obviously be omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent.
Omnipresent, for all forms are forms of His conscious being created by its force
of movement in its own extension as Space and Time; omniscient, for all things
exist in His conscious-being, are formed by it and possessed by it; omnipotent,
for this all-possessing consciousness is also an all-possessing Force and all-
informing Will. And this Will and Knowledge are not at war with each other as
our will and knowledge are capable of being at war with each other, because
they are not different but are one movement of the same being. Nor can they be
contradicted by any other will, force or consciousness from outside or within; for
there is no consciousness or force external to the One, and all energies and
formations of knowledge within are not other than it, but are merely play of the
one all-determining Will and the one all-harmonising Knowledge. What we see
as a clash of wills and forces, because we dwell in the particular and divided and
cannot see the whole, the Supermind envisages as the conspiring elements of a
predetermined harmony which is always present to it because the totality of
things is eternally subject to its gaze.

Whatever be the poise or form its action takes, this will always be the nature of
the divine Consciousness. But, its existence being absolute in itself, its power of
existence is also absolute in its extension, and it is not therefore limited to one
poise or one form of action. We, human beings, are phenomenally a particular
form of consciousness, subject to Time and Space, and can only be, in our surface
consciousness which is all we know of ourselves, one thing at a time, one
formation, one poise of being, one aggregate of experience; and that one thing is
for us the truth of ourselves which we acknowledge; all the rest is either not true


106
106
or no longer true, because it has disappeared into the past out of our ken, or not
yet true, because it is waiting in the future and not yet in our ken. But the Divine
Consciousness is not so particularised, nor so limited; it can be many things at a
time and take more than one enduring poise even for all time. We find that in the
principle of Supermind itself it has three such general poises or sessions of its
world-founding consciousness.

The first founds the inalienable unity of things, the second modifies that unity
so as to support the manifestation of the Many in One and One in Many; the
third further modifies it so as to support the evolution of a diversified
individuality which, by the action of Ignorance, becomes in us at a lower level
the illusion of the separate ego.
We have seen what is the nature of this first and primary poise of the Supermind
which founds the inalienable unity of things. It is not the pure unitarian
consciousness; for that is a timeless and spaceless concentration of
Sachchidananda in itself, in which Conscious Force does not cast itself out into
any kind of extension and, if it contains the universe at all, contains it in eternal
potentiality and not in temporal actuality. This, on the contrary, is an equal self-
extension of Sachchidananda all-comprehending, all-possessing, all-constituting.
But this all is one, not many; there is no individualisation. It is when the
reflection of this Supermind falls upon our stilled and purified self that we lose
all sense of individuality; for there is no concentration of consciousness there to
support an individual development. All is developed in unity and as one; all is
held by this Divine Consciousness as forms of its existence, not as in any degree
separate existences. Somewhat as the thoughts and images that occur in our
mind are not separate existences to us, but forms taken by our consciousness, so
are all names and forms to this primary Supermind. It is the pure divine ideation
and formation in the Infinite,only an ideation and formation that is organised
not as an unreal play of mental thought, but as a real play of conscious being.
The divine soul in this poise would make no difference between Conscious-Soul
and Force-Soul, for all force would be action of consciousness, nor between
Matter and Spirit since all mould would be simply form of Spirit.

In the second poise of the Supermind the Divine Consciousness stands back in
the idea from the movement which it contains,
113
realising it by a sort of
apprehending consciousness, following it, occupying and inhabiting its
works, seeming to distribute itself in its forms.
114
In each name and form it
would realize itself as the stable Conscious-Self, the same in all; but also it would
realise itself as a concentration of Conscious-Self following and supporting the
individual play of movement and upholding its differentiation from other play
of movement,the same everywhere in soul-essence, but varying in soul-form.

113
Cf to Sajna, Vijnna, jna, Prajna.
114
Cf. to Aa ditya


107
107

This concentration supporting the soul-form would be the individual Divine or
Jivatman as distinguished from the universal Divine or one all-constituting self.
There would be no essential difference, but only a practical differentiation for the
play which would not abrogate the real unity. The universal Divine would
know all soul-forms as itself and yet establish a different relation with each
separately and in each with all the others. The individual Divine would
envisage its existence as a soul-form and soul-movement of the One and, while
by the comprehending action of consciousness it would enjoy its unity with
the One and with all soul-forms, it would also by a forward or frontal
apprehending action support and enjoy its individual movement and its
relations of a free difference in unity both with the One and with all its forms.
If our purified mind were to reflect this secondary poise of Supermind, our soul
could support and occupy its individual existence and yet even there realise itself
as the One that has become all, inhabits all, contains all, enjoying even in its
particular modification its unity with God and its fellows. In no other
circumstance of the supramental existence would there be any characteristic
change; the only change would be this play of the One that has manifested its
multiplicity and of the Many that are still one, with all that is necessary to
maintain and conduct the play.

A third poise of the Supermind would be attained if the supporting
concentration were no longer to stand at the back, as it were, of the movement,
inhabiting it with a certain superiority to it and so following and enjoying, but
were to project itself into the movement and to be in a way involved in it.
Here, the character of the play would be altered, but only in so far as the
individual Divine would so predominantly make the play of relations with the
universal and with its other forms the practical field of its conscious experience
that the realisation of utter unity with them would be only a supreme
accompaniment and constant culmination of all experience; but in the higher
poise unity would be the dominant and fundamental experience and variation
would be only a play of the unity. This tertiary poise would be therefore that of a
sort of fundamental blissful dualism in unityno longer unity qualified by a
subordinate dualism between the individual Divine and its universal source,
with all the consequences that would accrue from the maintenance and operation
of such a dualism.
It may be said that the first consequence would be a lapse into the ignorance of
Avidya which takes the Many for the real fact of existence and views the One
only as a cosmic sum of the Many. But there would not necessarily be any such
lapse. For the individual Divine would still be conscious of itself as the result of
the One and of its power of conscious self-creation, that is to say, of its multiple
self-centration conceived so as to govern and enjoy manifoldly its manifold
existence in the extension of Time and Space; this true spiritual individual would


108
108
not arrogate to itself an independent or separate existence. It would only affirm
the truth of the differentiating movement along with the truth of the stable unity,
regarding them as the upper and lower poles of the same truth, the foundation
and culmination of the same divine play; and it would insist on the joy of the
differentiation as necessary to the fullness of the joy of the unity.

Obviously, these three poises would be only different ways of dealing with the
same Truth; the Truth of existence enjoyed would be the same, the way of
enjoying it or rather the poise of the soul in enjoying it would be different. The
delight, the Ananda would vary, but would abide always within the status of the
Truth-Consciousness and involve no lapse into the Falsehood and the Ignorance.
For the secondary and tertiary Supermind would only develop and apply in the
terms of the divine multiplicity what the primary Supermind had held in the
terms of the divine unity. We cannot stamp any of these three poises with the
stigma of falsehood and illusion. The language of the Upanishads, the supreme
ancient authority for these truths of a higher experience, when they speak of the
Divine existence which is manifesting itself, implies the validity of all these
experiences. We can only assert the priority of the oneness to the multiplicity, a
priority not in time but in relation of consciousness, and no statement of supreme
spiritual experience, no Vedantic philosophy denies this priority or the eternal
dependence of the Many on the One. It is because in Time the Many seem not to
be eternal but to manifest out of the One and return into it as their essence that
their reality is denied; but it might equally be reasoned that the eternal
persistence or, if you will, the eternal recurrence of the manifestation in Time is a
proof that the divine multiplicity is an eternal fact of the Supreme beyond Time
no less than the divine unity; otherwise it could not have this characteristic of
inevitable eternal recurrence in Time.
It is indeed only when our human mentality lays an exclusive emphasis on one
side of spiritual experience, affirms that to be the sole eternal truth and states it
in the terms of our all-dividing mental logic that the necessity for mutually
destructive schools of philosophy arises. Thus, emphasising the sole truth of the
unitarian consciousness, we observe the play of the divine unity, erroneously
rendered by our mentality into the terms of real difference, but, not satisfied with
correcting this error of the mind by the truth of a higher principle, we assert that
the play itself is an illusion. Or, emphasising the play of the One in the Many, we
declare a qualified unity and regard the individual soul as a soul-form of the
Supreme, but would assert the eternity of this qualified existence and deny
altogether the experience of a pure consciousness in an unqualified oneness. Or,
again, emphasising the play of difference, we assert that the Supreme and the
human soul are eternally different and reject the validity of an experience which
exceeds and seems to abolish that difference.
But the position that we have now firmly taken absolves us from the necessity of
these negations and exclusions: we see that there is a truth behind all these


109
109
affirmations, but at the same time an excess which leads to an ill-founded
negation. Affirming, as we have done, the absolute absoluteness of That, not
limited by our ideas of unity, not limited by our ideas of multiplicity, affirming
the unity as a basis for the manifestation of the multiplicity and the multiplicity
as the basis for the return to oneness and the enjoyment of unity in the divine
manifestation, we need not burden our present statement with these discussions
or undertake the vain labour of enslaving to our mental distinctions and
definitions the absolute freedom of the Divine Infinite.

Appendix 2

In the Self of Mind
115


At last there came a bare indifferent sky
Where Silence listened to the cosmic Voice,
But answered nothing to a million calls;
The soul's endless question met with no response.
An abrupt conclusion ended eager hopes,
A deep cessation in a mighty calm,
A finis-line on the last page of thought
And a margin and a blank of wordless peace.
There paused the climbing hierarchy of worlds.
He stood on a wide arc of summit Space
Alone with an enormous Self of Mind
Which held all life in a corner of its vasts.
Omnipotent, immobile and aloof,
In the world which sprang from it, it took no part:
It gave no heed to the paeans of victory,
It was indifferent to its own defeats,
It heard the cry of grief and made no sign;
Impartial fell its gaze on evil and good,
It saw destruction come and did not move.
An equal Cause of things, a lonely Seer
And Master of its multitude of forms,
It acted not but bore all thoughts and deeds,
The witness Lord of Nature's myriad acts
Consenting to the movements of her Force.
His mind reflected this vast quietism.
This witness hush is the Thinker's secret base:
Hidden in silent depths the word is formed,

115
Volume: 33-34 [CWSA] (Savitri -- A Legend and a Symbol), Page: 283



110
110
From hidden silences the act is born
Into the voiceful mind, the labouring world;
In secrecy wraps the seed the Eternal sows
Silence, the mystic birthplace of the soul.

In God's supreme withdrawn and timeless hush
A seeing Self and potent Energy met;
The Silence knew itself and thought took form:
Self-made from the dual power creation rose.
In the still self he lived and it in him;
Its mute immemorable listening depths,
Its vastness and its stillness were his own;
One being with it he grew wide, powerful, free.
Apart, unbound, he looked on all things done.
As one who builds his own imagined scenes
And loses not himself in what he sees,
Spectator of a drama self-conceived,
He looked on the world and watched its motive thoughts
With the burden of luminous prophecy in their eyes,
Its forces with their feet of wind and fire
Arisen from the dumbness in his soul.
All now he seemed to understand and know;
Desire came not nor any gust of will,
The great perturbed inquirer lost his task;
Nothing was asked nor wanted any more.
There he could stay, the Self, the Silence won:
His soul had peace, it knew the cosmic Whole.

Then suddenly a luminous finger fell
On all things seen or touched or heard or felt
And showed his mind that nothing could be known;
That must be reached from which all knowledge comes.
The sceptic Ray disrupted all that seems
And smote at the very roots of thought and sense.
In a universe of Nescience they have grown,
Aspiring towards a superconscient Sun,
Playing in shine and rain from heavenlier skies
They never can win however high their reach
Or overpass however keen their probe.
A doubt corroded even the means to think,
Distrust was thrown upon Mind's instruments;
All that it takes for reality's shining coin,
Proved fact, fixed inference, deduction clear,


111
111
Firm theory, assured significance,
Appeared as frauds upon Time's credit bank
Or assets valueless in Truth's treasury.

An Ignorance on an uneasy throne
Travestied with a fortuitous sovereignty
A figure of knowledge garbed in dubious words
And tinsel thought-forms brightly inadequate.
A labourer in the dark dazzled by half-light,
What it knew was an image in a broken glass,
What it saw was real but its sight untrue.
All the ideas in its vast repertory
Were like the mutterings of a transient cloud
That spent itself in sound and left no trace.
A frail house hanging in uncertain air,
The thin ingenious web round which it moves,
Put out awhile on the tree of the universe,
And gathered up into itself again,
Was only a trap to catch life's insect food,
Winged thoughts that flutter fragile in brief light
But dead, once captured in fixed forms of mind,
Aims puny but looming large in man's small scale,
Flickers of imagination's brilliant gauze
And cobweb-wrapped beliefs alive no more.
The magic hut of built-up certitudes
Made out of glittering dust and bright moonshine
In which it shrines its image of the Real,
Collapsed into the Nescience whence it rose.
Only a gleam was there of symbol facts
That shroud the mystery lurking in their glow,
And falsehoods based on hidden realities
By which they live until they fall from Time.
Our mind is a house haunted by the slain past,
Ideas soon mummified, ghosts of old truths,
God's spontaneities tied with formal strings
And packed into drawers of reason's trim bureau,
A grave of great lost opportunities,
Or an office for misuse of soul and life
And all the waste man makes of heaven's gifts
And all his squanderings of Nature's store,
A stage for the comedy of Ignorance.
Appendix 3



112
112
On Supermind.
116


A few have dared the last supreme ascent
And break through borders of blinding light above,
And feel a breath around of mightier air,
Receive a vaster being's messages
And bathe in its immense intuitive Ray.
On summit Mind are radiant altitudes
Exposed to the lustre of Infinity,
Outskirts and dependencies of the house of Truth,
Upraised estates of Mind and measureless.
There man can visit but there he cannot live.

A cosmic Thought spreads out its vastitudes; (Higher Mind)
Its smallest parts are here philosophies
Challenging with their detailed immensity,
Each figuring an omniscient scheme of things.

But higher still can climb the ascending light;
There are vasts of vision and eternal suns, (The Illumined Mind)
Oceans of an immortal luminousness,
Flame-hills assaulting heaven with their peaks,
There dwelling all becomes a blaze of sight;
A burning head of vision leads the mind,
Thought trails behind it its long comet tail;
The heart glows, an illuminate and seer,
And sense is kindled into identity.

A highest flight climbs to a deepest view:
In a wide opening of its native sky
Intuition's lightnings range in a bright pack (INTUITIVE MIND)
Hunting all hidden truths out of their lairs,
Its fiery edge of seeing absolute
Cleaves into locked unknown retreats of self,
Rummages the sky-recesses of the brain,
Lights up the occult chambers of the heart;
Its spear-point ictus of discovery
Pressed on the cover of name, the screen of form,
Strips bare the secret soul of all that is.
Thought there has revelation's sun-bright eyes;

116
Volume: 33-34 [CWSA] (Savitri -- A Legend and a Symbol), Page: 659



113
113
The Word, a mighty and inspiring Voice,
Enters Truth's inmost cabin of privacy
And tears away the veil from God and life.

Then stretches the boundless finite's last expanse, (OVERMIND)
The cosmic empire of the Overmind,
Time's buffer state bordering Eternity,
Too vast for the experience of man's soul:
All here gathers beneath one golden sky:
The Powers that build the cosmos station take
In its house of infinite possibility;
Each god from there builds his own nature's world;
Ideas are phalanxed like a group of suns,
Each marshalling his company of rays.
Thought crowds in masses seized by one regard;
All Time is one body, Space a single look:
There is the Godhead's universal gaze
And there the boundaries of immortal Mind:
The line that parts and joins the hemispheres
Closes in on the labour of the Gods
Fencing eternity from the toil of Time.

In her glorious kingdom of eternal light (SUPERMIND)
All-ruler, ruled by none, the Truth supreme,
Omnipotent, omniscient and alone,
In a golden country keeps her measureless house;
In its corridor she hears the tread that comes
Out of the Unmanifest never to return
Till the Unknown is known and seen by men.
Above the stretch and blaze of cosmic Sight,
Above the silence of the wordless Thought,
Formless creator of immortal forms,
Nameless, investitured with the name divine,
Transcending Time's hours, transcending Timelessness,
The Mighty Mother sits in lucent calm
And holds the eternal Child upon her knees
Attending the day when he shall speak to Fate. (see RV 5.69.3)
There is the image of our future's hope;
There is the sun for which all darkness waits,
There is the imperishable harmony;
The world's contradictions climb to her and are one:
There is the Truth of which the world's truths are shreds,
The Light of which the world's ignorance is the shade


114
114
Till Truth draws back the shade that it has cast,
The Love our hearts call down to heal all strife,
The Bliss for which the world's derelict sorrows yearn:
Thence comes the glory sometimes seen on earth,
The visits of Godhead to the human soul,
The Beauty and the dream on Nature's face.
There the perfection born from eternity
Calls to it the perfection born in Time,
The truth of God surprising human life,
The image of God overtaking finite shapes.
There in a world of everlasting Light,
In the realms of the immortal Supermind
Truth who hides here her head in mystery,
Her riddle deemed by reason impossible
In the stark structure of material form,
Unenigmaed lives, unmasked her face and there
Is Nature and the common law of things.
There in a body made of spirit stuff,
The hearth-stone of the everliving Fire,
Action translates the movements of the soul,
Thought steps infallible and absolute
And life is a continual worship's rite,
A sacrifice of rapture to the One.
A cosmic vision, a spiritual sense
Feels all the Infinite lodged in finite form
And seen through a quivering ecstasy of light
Discovers the bright face of the Bodiless,
In the truth of a moment, in the moment's soul
Can sip the honey-wine of Eternity.
A Spirit who is no one and innumerable,
The one mystic infinite Person of his world
Multiplies his myriad personality,
On all his bodies seals his divinity's stamp
And sits in each immortal and unique. (see RV 7.52.1)





115
115
RV 5. 70
i: urucakri treya; devat: mitrvaru; chanda: gyatr

9-6Tl |( \4 HFt4 H4l ++ 4l 46T
|P 4 |B 4l BP|6P + ---{
6l 4l B4 HlT9P H*4lP l4B
44 6 6l F4lP + ----
9l6 +l 6l 9l4| 76 l4l Bll
64lP (F4+ 6+|- + ---(
Pl TF4l646 4P =Pl 6+|-
Pl H9Bl Pl 6+Bl + ---

purr cid dh sti vo nn v varua
mtra vsi v sumatm 5.070.01

t

v samyg adruhv am ayma dh

yase
vay t rudr siyma 5.070.02

pt no rudr pybhir ut tryeth sutrtr

tury

ma dsyn tan

bhi 5.070.03

m

ksya adbhutakrat yakm bhujem tan

bhi
m

as m

tnas 5.070.04




116
116
The Increasers of Being and Deliverers

The Rishi desires the wide and multiple fostering of our being and its powers
which Varuna and Mitra give and their complete impulsion of our strength
towards the perfect foundation of the divine status. He prays to them to protect
and deliver him from the Destroyers and prevent their adverse control from
impairing the growth of the godhead in our various sheaths or bodies.

9-6Tl |( \4 HFt4 H4l ++ 4l 46T
|P 4 |B 4l BP|6P + ---{
purr cid dh sti vo nn v varua
mtra vsi v sumatm 5.070.01

1. Multiple indeed by the wideness
117
is now your fostering of our being, O
Varuna. O Mitra, I would enjoy your perfect-mindedness.

Interpretation:
Lets look into what language and how the Rishi speaks affirming Mitra and
Varuna in his consciousness:
Multiple and vast is your growth in us now! O Varuna, O Mitra, I aspire to
possess and to enjoy, vasi, your supreme-mindedness, sumatim.

The growth towards the Supreme implies the multiple and manifold realization
in our individual consciousness. It is only when we are becoming universalized
in our individual frame that many chariots of the Divine being, consciousness,
power and bliss will move within our individual consciousness, and will open us
to the wonders of the Lords supreme perception.
Actually all the poverty of our life is due to this narrowness in our consciousness
ahas, or ahati, often mentioned in the hymns dedicated to Adityas and
especially to Varuna and Mitra as our major imperfection. This narrowness is
compelling us to look for the delight in things of this multiple existence of the
Divine in a narrow, selective and selfish way. All here is formed around this
smallness of our being: the perceptions of our mind, our feelings and emotions of
our life and even the selfish attitude to our body. But if the perfect-mindedness
of Mitra and Varuna could enter into our being we would have a chance to
overgrow our limited perceptions and to move towards the multiple vastness of
our being.

117
The wideness of the infinite Truth-plane with the manifold wealth of its spiritual
contents. Its condition is the perfection of the thought-mind and psychic mentality
proper to a divine nature, which comes to man as the grace of the gods, sumati.


117
117

Vocabulary:
purru, ind. far and wide RV. (most probably it is a combination of puru-uru in Instr.)
van cl. 8. P. A., to like , love , wish , desire RV. AV.; to gain , acquire , procure (for
one's self or others) RV. AV.; to conquer , win , become master of , possess RV. AV.


6l 4l B4 HlT9P H*4lP l4B
44 6 6l F4lP + ----

t

v samyg adruhv am ayma dh

yase
vay t rudr siyma 5.070.02

2. You are they who betray not to harm;
118
may we enjoy your complete force of
impulsion for our founding; may we be they, O you violent godheads.

Interpretation:
You are they who do not betray us on the path to the Divine! We want to
possess and to enjoy your perfect power of will! May we be these [Rudras], O
Rudras!
In the first verse the Rishi asks for the possession and enjoyment of the perfect
mindedness, sumati, and in this Rik he aspires for the perfect force of impulsion
towards the Divine realization, samyak iam. That is probably why Varuna and
Mitra are mentioned here as Rudras. It is also implied that we also want to be
like Rudras by possessing their perfect force of impulsion.
The Russian scholar Elizarenkova in her notes to this hymn cannot understand
why and how Varuna and Mitra are called Rudras, suggesting that we have to
translate it as an adjective: crying.

Vocabulary:
adruhvan, mfn. free from malice or treachery RV.


9l6 +l 6l 9l4| 76 l4l Bll
64lP (F4+ 6+|- + ---(

pt no rudr pybhir ut tryeth sutrtr

tury

ma dsyn tan

bhi 5.070.03

118
The harms of the Dasyus, destroyers of our being and enemies of its divine progress,
the sons of Limitation and Ignorance.


118
118

3. Protect us, O violent ones,
119
with your protectings and deliver us with a
perfect deliverance. May we in our embodyings break through the Destroyers.

Interpretation:
Protect us, O two Rudras, with your protecting powers, and carry us over [the
danger] the best way possible to carry us over! May we break through the
Dividers on every level of our being to another shore of ourselves.
The third thing asked by the Rishi in this hymn is the safety in the battle-journey
towards the Divine existence. By the virtue of perfect knowledge, sumati and by
the perfect force impulsion, samyak iam, we should be able to break through the
dividers and destroyers to the goal of the divine fulfillment.

Vocabulary:
trai, 1. A. tryate, to protect , preserve , cherish , defend , rescue from (gen. or abl.)
trt, m. a protector , defender , one who saves from (abl. or gen.) RV. (with deva
applied to Bhaga or Savit) VS. AV. TS. (Indra) MBh. &c.
pyu, m. ( p) a guard, protector RV. (esp. instr. pl. "with protecting powers or actions,
helpfully") AV.
turyma, Pot. from t, to pass over.


Pl TF4l646 4P =Pl 6+|-
Pl H9Bl Pl 6+Bl + ---

m

ksya adbhutakrat yakm bhujem tan

bhi
m

as m

tnas 5.070.04

4. O transcendent in will-power, let us not in our embodyings suffer the control
of any,
120
nor in our begetting, nor our creation.

Interpretation:
O you two, whose will power is of transcendental nature, we aspire to enjoy
only your presence! May we not enjoy sharing with any other [inferiour] spirits!
Neither in what we create nor in what we become!


119
Rudras. Rudra is the Divine as the master of our evolution by violence and battle,
smiting and destroying the Sons of Darkness and the evil they create in man. Varuna
and Mitra as helpers in the upward struggle against the Dasyus assume this Rudrahood.
120
That is, any of the Destroyers.



119
119
It is interesting that the enjoyment is seen as the key to the life one wants to live.
One can enjoy even being with Dasyus and living their kind of life, or one can
enjoy being with other creatures and perceiving the world through their eyes.
The Rishi affirms, invoking Mitra and Varuna, whose Power of Will is of
Transcendental Consciousness-Being, that we (people) are seeking the enjoyment
of their Supreme Being and Consciousness in all what we do and beget, and on
all the levels of our embodied consciousness, tanbhi.

Vocabulary:
eas, n. offspring RV.
tanas, n. offspring RV. v , 70 , 4.
yaka, n. a living supernatural being , spiritual apparition , ghost , spirit RV. AV. VS. Br.



Appendix

The hymn dedicated to Adityas by Vasishtha, on which Sri Aurobindo
commented in the Secret of the Veda, opens up the symbolism of Adityas and
their relation with man.

RV 7.52
i: vasiha maitrvarui; devat: dityagaa; chanda: triup

Hl|(t4lBl H|(64- F4lP 9 (4l 4B4l Pt4l
B+P |Pl46Tl B+-6l 4P Hl4l9|4l 4-6- + ----{
|PB 6+ +l 46Tl PlP(-6 HP 6lTl4 6+4l4 l9l-
Pl 4l =Pl-4=l6P 9+l Pl 66 TP 4B4l 4 4\4 + -----
6'44l 5|qBl +-6 (4F4 B|46 4l+l-
|96l 6+ +l P(l+ 4=l |4H (4l- BP+Bl =9-6 + ----(


Interpretation of RV 7.52

Hl|(t4lBl H|(64- F4lP 9 (4l 4B4l Pt4l
B+P |Pl46Tl B+-6l 4P Hl4l9|4l 4-6- + ----{


120
120

dity so ditaya siyma pr devatr vasavo martiyatr
snema mitrvaru snanto bhvema dyvpr thiv bhvanta 7.052.01

Interpretation:
Griffith cannot imagine here that men want or can become Adityas and Aditis, he
translates word Adityas in the Vocative case, though it is in Nominative. The
meaning of this verse is profound:

May we become Adityas in their infinite qualities, which they all share in the
Supreme Aditi, and become also a Fortress among Gods and among Mortals, O
Luminous Dwellers in the substance! Realising, may we truly realize you, O
Varuna and Mitra! Becoming, may we truly become you, O Heaven and Earth!

Vasishtha prays that we may become fully realized and harmonized within the
Divine Mother with all her supreme manifestations, embodying and sharing all
her qualities and faculties, and at the same time maintaining our own identity in
this manifestation, which cannot be altered neither by the gods nor by the
mortals. Possessing your presence and power here, may we truly possess you,
- says the Rishi, where the root san has many meanings: to gain, acquire,
obtain, gift, possess, enjoy, which implies many possible translations, such as:
When we gain, may we truly gain you; or when we enjoy your presence, may
we truly enjoy it, etc. We find the similar structure in the next phrase also where
the root bhu, can be translated as to be, to become, arise, come into being,
exist, live, stay, abide, etc.

But there is more to this verse. Its poetic rhythm suggests the meaning we
cannot see in the grammatical structure of a sentence. Trishtubh has a caesura
after four or five sillables and the cadence before the last three.

snema mitr | varu snanto
bhvema dyv | pr thiv bhvanta

Even though the dvandva of Vocative mitrvaru or dyvpthiv is undividable,
they are in the middle of the pada separated by caesura. So the natural breath
of the poetic rhythm creates a subtle suggestion which is not in the syntactic
structure of the sentence:

May we win, Mitra | Varuna, winning!
May we become, Heaven | Earth becoming!

It suggests subtly this meaning: We want to win Mitra, Varuna-winning. We
want be Heaven, Earth-becoming. This can be an example how the poetic


121
121
rhythm introduces the suggestion of new shades of meaning, widening our
understanding of what the Rishi wanted to say.

|PB 6+ +l 46Tl PlP(-6 HP 6lTl4 6+4l4 l9l-
Pl 4l =Pl-4=l 6P 9+l Pl 66 TP 4B4l 4 4\4 + -----

mitrs tn no vruo mmahanta rma tok

ya tnayya gop

vo bhujema anyjtam no m

tt karma vasavo yc cyadhve 7.052.02

Interpretation:
May Mitra and Varuna make this great in us; the Guardians of Light make this
embodiment of peace and protection for the generations to come.
May we never partake of evil, which comes from another. May we never do what
will turn you away from us, O Luminous Dwellers in the substance!

Mitra and Varuna, should make this grow in us, that is, us becoming harmonized
with Adityas within the Divine Mother and building up at the same time the
Fortress of our being which cannot be conquered neither by the gods nor my the
mortals. This self-realisation in Mitra and Varuna, should support and increase
even future generations.
Grant to us that we may never partake of any sin, for it is not coming from you
but from another source; may we never do that which may turn you away from
us.
This part of the verse is very similar in meaning to the RV 5.70.4, see: m
kasydbhutakrat yakam bhujem tanbhi m eas m tanas/ May we, O
Mitra and Varuna, transcendental in will power, never enjoy in our bodies other
spirit [than yours]; neither in our begettings nor in our expansion.

Vocabulary:
mah, (cf. mah) 1. A. mahate, to give, grant, bestow RV. Br.; to increase
ci, 1. cayate (p. cayamna) to detest, hate (Nir. iv , 25) RV. i , 167 , 8 and 190 ,
5 vii , 52 , 2, to revenge, punish, take vengeance on (acc.) , ii , 27 , 4

6'44l 5|qBl +-6 (4F4 B|46 4l+l-
|96l 6+ +l P(l+ 4=l |4H (4l- BP+Bl =9-6 + ----(


122
122

turayvo giraso nakanta rtna devsya savitr iyn

pit

ca tn no mah

n yjatro vve dev

smanaso juanta 7.052.03

Interpretation:
Aspiring for the highest realization, Angirasas, seeking the luminous riches of
the God Savitar, obtained them!
May our great Father, who is of the Sacrifice, and all the gods being of one mind
accept and take delight in this our [realization]!

Vocabulary:
turayu mfn. swift , zealous.
nak, 1. P.A to come near, approach, arrive at, get, attain RV. AV. VS.

Sri Aurobindo explains this hymn in the Secret of the Veda:
But the fifty-second hymn is still more significant and suggestive. The first Rik
runs, O Sons of the infinite Mother (dityso), may we become infinite beings
(aditaya syma), may the Vasus protect in the godhead and the mortality
(devatr martyatr); possessing may we possess you, O Mitra and Varuna,
becoming may we become you, O Heaven and Earth, sanema mitrvaru
sananto, bhavema dyvpthiv bhavanta. This is evidently the sense that we
are to possess and become the infinities or children of Aditi, the godheads,
aditaya, dityso. Mitra and Varuna, we must remember, are powers of Surya
Savitri, the Lord of the Light and the Truth. And the third verse runs, May the
Angirases who hasten through to the goal move in their travelling to the bliss of
the divine Savitri; and that (bliss) may our great Father, he of the sacrifice, and
all the gods becoming of one mind accept in heart. Turayavo nakanta ratna
devasya savitur iyn. It is quite clear therefore that the Angirases are
travellers to the light and truth of the solar deity from which are born the
luminous cows they wrest from the Panis and to the bliss which, as we always
see, is founded on that light and truth. It is clear also that this journey is a
growing into the godhead, into the infinite being (aditaya syma), said in this
hymn (verse 2) to come by the growth of the peace and bliss through the action
in us of Mitra, Varuna and the Vasus who protect us in the godhead and the
mortality.
121





121
Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 189



123
123
RV 5.85
i: atri bhauma; devat: varua; chanda: triup

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B4l 6l |4 !4 |H|4 (4ll 6 F4lP 46T |94lB- + --<--<









124
124
To the Omniscient Creator
122


In this hymn there is throughout a sustained double sense. In the exoteric Varuna
is hymned as the Asura, omniscient and omnipotent lord and creator, the
Godhead in his creative wisdom and might forming the world and maintaining
the law of things in the earth and mid-air and heavens. In the esoteric, in which
the physical phenomena of the exoteric become symbols, the infinite Godhead is
hymned in his all-pervading wisdom and purity opening the three worlds of our
being to the Sun of knowledge, pouring down the streams of the Truth, purifying
the soul from the falsehood of the lower being and its sin. The hymn is rendered
here successively in its exoteric and its esoteric significance.

The Mighty Master of Infinite Wisdom
123


The Rishi hymns Varuna as the Lord of infinite purity and wisdom who opens
our earthly being to the unclouded light of the sun of knowledge, pours out the
waters of the Truth upon all our triple existence mental, vital and physical and
by its power removes all sin and evil and falsehood from our lives. He creates the
free wideness of our vital being above our broken search for the delightful
objects of our desire, sets the plenitude in our battling life-forces, the yield of
heaven in the shining herds of thought; he has put will in our hearts, Agni the
divine force in the waters of existence, the Sun of divine knowledge in the
highest heaven of mind and the plant that yields the wine of delight on the
many-plateaued mountain of our being. All these are the means by which we
attain to immortality. He plans out all our physical existence by his wisdom
according to the truth light of the sun of knowledge and creates in us the unity of
his own infinite existence and consciousness with all the seven rivers of the
Truth-plane pouring their streams of knowledge into it without filling its infinity.


9 BBl= 4(( Hl l O |94 46Tl4 ~6l4
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pr samr

je br hd arc gabhrm brhma priy vruya rut

ya
v y jagh

na amitva crma upastre pr thiv

riyya 5.085.01



122
Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 544
123
Sri Aurobindo wrote two different commentaries on this hymn, as if for two different reasons, they are
both given here; the second one is more esoteric.


125
125
l. Sing thou the word vast and profound and dear to renowned Varuna, the All-
ruler, to him who clove away, even as the cleaver of beasts a skin, that he might
spread out the earth under the sun.

1. To Varuna of the far-heard inspirations, the all-ruling,
124
sing bright the
inspired word of the soul in its vastness and depth and delight; for he has cloven
wide away the darkness, as one that cleaves away a skin, that he may spread out
our earth under his illumining sun.
125


Interpretation:
It is interesting how Sri Aurobindo translates here arc, Subj. from arc, to sing
and to shine: sing bright (k is derived from this root, of the g-veda); and the
word brahma he translates as the inspired word of the soul; and the words
bhad, gabhram, priyam in its vastness and depth and delight.
For he has removed the cover on the surface of our consciousness, the skin which
kept us closed to the influence of his light, or we can even say, he has stripped us
off the narrow surface of our being which we were always preoccupied with and
opened us to the influence of the eternal Sun of our deeper and true being.

Vocabulary:
arc, 1. P, (Subj. arct) to shine , brilliant RV.; to praise , sing (also used of the roaring of
the Maruts , and of a bull [RV. iv , 16 , 3]) RV. AV. S3Br. , to praise anything to another
(dat.) , recommend RV.
amit, m. a killer, slaughterer, cutter up (of a slaughtered victim), preparer, dresser
RV. Br. MBh.
upastir, f. anything spread over , a cover RV. ix , 62 , 28 (dat. upa-stire used as inf. see
last col.)

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vneu v antrika tatna v

jam rvatsu pya usrysu

hr ts krtu vruo aps agn div s

ryam adadht smam drau 5.085.02

124
The two epithets are intended to give the two sides of the divine being, all-knowledge and all-
power; mym asurasya rutasya. Man divinizing himself has to become in the image of the
godhead seer and king.
125
The limitations of the physical mentality are rolled away and it is spread out in a great
wideness to receive the revelations and inspirations of the light of the gnosis.


126
126
2. He spread out the mid-air on the tree-tops, he put strength in the battle-steeds
and milk in the cows; in hearts he put will, the fire in the waters,
126
the sun in
heaven and the Soma-plant on the mountain.

2. He has spread wide the mid-world above the forests of earth-delight;
127
he has
put his plenitude in our battle-steeds of life
128
and their heavenly milk in our
shining herds of knowledge.
129
Varuna has put the will
130
in our hearts, the
divine fire
131
in the waters,
132
the Sun of Light in our heavens, the plant of
Delight on the mountain of our being.
133


Interpretation:
This verse introduces Varuna as the Creator. He introduced the vital force into
the matter, into the plants, it is because of this vital force within the plants
(matter) that the letter can grow and be used as food (for growth) and enjoyment
here in physical world. He has put his substantial power, vja, or the plenitude,
into our movement of our vital force, making it universal and unlimited in
power. He has put also the milk of Knowledge in our consciousness, the herds of
light, and made it free from our narrow and surface mentality. He also put a
power of aspiration in our hearts, the divine Will to lead us on the path of the
Sacrifice.
He introduced Agni into the waters of our Cosmic Being, Sun into the Heaven of
our Mind, the Soma onto the plateaus of our manifold Self.


+ll+4l 46T- T4-P 9 BB= l(Bl H-6|P

126
Sayana explains, either the electric fire in the water of the clouds or the submarine fire in the
ocean.
127
The forests or delightful growths of earth (vana means also pleasure) are the basis of the mid-
world, the vital world in us which is the realm of Vayu, the Life-God. That is the world of the
satisfaction of desires. This also is spread out in its full wideness, free from limitation, to receive
the Ananda or divine delight by means of the knowledge and law of the Truth.

128
Arvatsu, meaning both battlers, strivers and horses.

129
Usriysu, meaning both bright ones and cows.

130
Kratu, the will to the divine work, the sacrificial will.

131
Agni, the fire of the divine Will which receives the sacrifice and becomes its priest.

132
The ocean of being or else the waters of Truth which descend from above.

133
Our existence is compared always to a mountain with many plateaus, each a level or plane of
being.


127
127
6+ |4HF4 4+F4 l=l 44 + 4|7 -4 7+| P + --<--(

nc

nabra vrua kvandham pr sasarja rdas antrikam

tna vvasya bhvanasya r

j yva n vr r v unatti bh

ma 5.085.03


3. Varuna poured forth over earth and heaven and the mid-air the holder of the
waters whose windows open downward; by him the King of all the world floods
the earth as the rain floods a field of barley.

3. Varuna has poured forth over our earth and heaven and mid-world the holder
of wisdom with his doors opening downward;
134
with him the king of all our
being floods our earth like rain flooding the barley.

Interpretation:
Varuna poured out his heavenly waters onto our mental and physical being and
the space of the vital being, which connects them. By that the King of the whole
Creation washed away [the dust] of our world of becoming, like the flood is
washing away the barley.

Vocabulary:
ncnabra mfn. having its opening below RV.
bra, m. or n. (?) an opening, aperture (see jihma- and ncna-b-).
kabandha, m. n. (sometimes written kavandha) a big barrel or cask , a
largebellied vessel (metaphorically applied to a cloud) RV. AV. ix , 4 , 3
ud/und, 7. P. unatti (RV. v , 85 , 4); 6. P. undati; to flow or issue out , spring
(as water) to wet , bathe RV. AV. Etc.
bhman, n. the earth, world RV. AV.; m. abundance, plenty, wealth,
opulence , multitude , majority RV. &c. &c.


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untti bh

mim pr thiv

m ut dy

yad

dugdh vruo vi

d t
sm abhra vasata prvatsas taviynta rathayanta vr

5.085.04



134
The gnosis opens upward to receive the Infinite in its will and knowledge; here its doors open
downwards to flood the lower being.



128
128
4. Varuna floods the wide earth and heaven, yea, when he desires the milk of
heaven, he pours it forth; the mountains are clothed utterly with cloud, the
heroes of storm
135
put forth their strength and all is cast down before them.

4. He floods our earth in its wideness and our heaven, yea, Varuna when he
desires that milk,
136
pours it forth; the mountains are covered with the cloud, his
heroes
137
put forth their strength and cast it away.

Interpretation:
When Varuna desires the Milk from the Transcendental realms here, he pours it
out on the wide earth and heaven, covering the peaks of our being with his
clouds of luminous Waters, and the Maruts, the strong heroes here, cast forth
their strength.
This imagery is also used in the RV 5.63:

samr

jv asy bhvanasya rjatho mtrvaru vidthe suvard

vr v r

dho amr tatvm mahe dy

vpr thiv

v caranti tanyva 5.063.02

2. Emperors,
138
you rule over this world of our becoming, O Mitra and Varuna,
in the getting of knowledge you are seers of the realm of Light; we desire from
you the rain, the felicitous wealth, the immortality, and lo! the Thunderers
139

range abroad through earth and heaven.

samr

j ugr

vr abh

divs pt pr thivy

mitr

vru vcaran
citrbhir abhrar pa tihatho rva dy

varayatho surasya myy 5.063.03

3. Emperors, strong Bulls of the abundance, Masters of earth and heaven, O
Mitra and Varuna, universal in your workings, you approach their cry with your
clouds of varied light and you rain down Heaven by the power of the
knowledge
140
of the Mighty One.
141



135
Vr, the Heroes, here the Maruts as storm-gods.
136
The milk of the Cow Aditi, the infinite consciousness.
137
The Maruts as life-powers attaining to full thought-knowledge; they help Indra to break the
cloud or coverer, Vritra, and pour out the waters of Truth and also to bring the light hidden by
Vala, that of the hidden sun. Here the two ideas are combined in another image.
138
Samr, having perfect kingship over the subjective and objective existence.
139
The Maruts, Life-Powers and Thought-Powers who find out the light of truth for all our
activities. The word may also mean formers or builders.
140
Maya, the creative knowledge-will of the Deva.
141
Asura, a word used in the Veda as in the Avesta for the Deva (Ahuramazda), but also for the
gods, His manifestations; it is only in a few hymns that it is used for the dark Titans, by another
and fictitious derivation, a-sura, the not-luminous, the not-gods.



129
129


my

vm mitrvaru div rit

ryo jyti carati citrm

yudham
tm abhra vr iy

ghatho div prjanya draps

mdhumanta rate 5.063.04

4. This is your knowledge, O Mitra and Varuna, that is lodged in heaven; it is the
Sun, it is the Light; it ranges abroad as your rich and varied weapon. You hide it
in heaven with the cloud and with the raining. O Rain, full of the honey start
forth thy streamings.

rtha yujate marta ubh sukh

ro n mitrvaru gviiu
rjsi citr

v caranti tanyvo div samrj pyas na ukatam 5.063.05

5. The Life-Powers yoke their happy car for the bliss, even as might a hero for
battle, O Mitra and Varuna, in their seekings for the herds of Light; thundering
they range the varied worlds, and you pour out on us, rulers imperial, the water
of Heaven.

v

ca s mitrvaruv rvatm parjnya citr

vadati tvmatm
abhr

vasata marta s myy dy

varayatam aru

m arepsam 5.063.06

6. O Mitra and Varuna, the Rain speaks its language
142
rich and varied and full of
the light and the movement; the Life-Powers have put on your clouds for
raiment. Utterly by the knowledge you rain down Heaven ruddy-shining and
sinless.

Vocabulary:
taviya, Nom. P. A., to be strong or violent or courageous , ii , 30 , 8;
v , 85 , 4
vasata, Inj., 3d pers., pl., they put on, from vas, 2.., to put on, to cloth.
rath, 9. P., to be loosened or untied or unbent , become loose or slack ,
yield , give way RV. (cf. P 2. 3-1 , 89 Sch.); Caus., to loosen , untie ,
unbend , slacken , relax (A1. `" to become loose , yield "') RV. AitBr.

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im

m sursya rutsya mah

m my

vruasya pr vocam
m

neneva tasthiv

m antrike v y mam pr thiv

riyea 5.085.05

142
Here we see the subjective sense of the thunder in the symbol of the storm; it is the
outcrashing of the word of the Truth, the Shabda, as the lightning is the outflashing of its
sense.


130
130


5. I have declared this vast creative wisdom
143
of the famous and mighty One,
even Varuna, he who stood in mid-air as with a measuring-rod and wide he
measured out the earth with the sun.
5. Vast is this wisdom which I declare of Varuna the far-heard, the mighty Lord,
for he stands in our mid-world as with a measuring-rod and wide he measures
out our earth with his illumining Sun.
144


Interpretation:
I declared this great Power of Knowledge of the Lord Varuna, who extends his
consciousness far, thus He has arisen in the space between Heaven and Earth,
measuring our Earth with a light of the Sun as with the measuring rope.
Our Earth, the manifestation in matter of the Spirit, is to be measured out,
shaped, built by the light of the Sun and the Lord Varuna does it.

Vocabulary:
sura, 1 mf()n. (fr. asura), spiritual , divine RV. VS. AV. belonging or
devoted to evil spirits belonging or relating to the Asuras RV. AV. VS.
mna, m., a building , house , dwelling RV.; measure, measuring-cord,
standard RV. &c. &c.; form , appearance RV.

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9T 4( 7,l + 9T-t4 9+l Hl|B-6l H4+4- BPP + --<--\

im

m n kavtamasya my

m mah

devsya nkir

dadhara
ka yd udn

n pr nti nr sicntr avnaya samudrm 5.085.06

6. Vast is this wisdom of the divine and the greatest of seers and there is none
who can do violence against it; therefore the Ocean is one, yet all these rushing
rivers pour themselves into it and cannot fill it.

6. Vast is this wisdom of the godhead greatest in seer-knowledge and none can
do violence to it; for into him, the one, the ocean, the bright fostering rivers
145


143
Maya, with a strong sense of its root-significance, to measure, form, build or plan out.
144
Man lives in the physical being; Varuna brings the light of the gnosis into it and measures it
out, that is, shapes and plans out our earth-existence in the measures of the Truth by means of the
mind enlightened by the sun of gnosis: he takes his stand as the Asura in our vital plane, the link
between mental and physical, there to receive the light and pass it on to the earth as a creative
and determining force.
145
The seven rivers that descend from the Truth-plane, here called avanaya, which has the same
root-sense as dhenava, the fostering cows.


131
131
pour their waters, yet they cannot fill him.

Interpretation:
The image of the Ocean is an image of Infinity, which is one, therefore none here
can do any harm to it, for it is one and all. It cannot be filled by all the streams of
its manifestation, which come from it and return back to it after a while.

Vocabulary:
dh, 1 P. to assail , attack , injure , overcome RV. AV.
avani, f. course, bed of a river RV.; stream, river RV.
en, 2, mf( and en Pa1n2. 4-1 , 39)n., "rushing", "darting"

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4H 4l |+t4 46TlT 4l 46 BlP HlH TPl |H~B 66 + --<--

aryamya varua mitrya v skhya v sdam d bhr

tara v
ve v ntya varu

raa v yt sm

ga cakr m

irthas tt 5.085.07

7. Whatsoever sin we have done against the law of Aryaman or the law of Mitra,
against brother or friend, against constant neighbour or enemy,
146
cast it away
from us, O Varuna.
7. All the sin that we have done against thee in thy power of Aryaman or thy
power of Mitra or as brother or friend or the eternal indweller or the warrior,
147

that cast away from us.

Interpretation:
Whether it was against your greatness in Power as Aryaman or in
Consciousness as Mitra, O Varuna, or against you as the Eternal Friend or a
Brother, a constant dweller within us or the transcendent Godhead, who cannot
be fought, araa, if we have sinned or committed a mistake, cast it away from us,
O Varuna.

Vocabulary:
araa, mf()n. (), foreign, distant RV. AV.
Sadam, ind. (prob. fr. sad) always , ever , for ever , at any time RV. AV.

|T64lBl 4( ||9 + (l|4 4( 4l l Bt4P 76 4+ + |4T

146
Or, stranger.
147
Against the Dasyus.



132
132
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kitav

so yd riripr n dv yd v gh satym ut yn n vidm

srv t

v ya ithirva deva dh te syma varua priy

sa 5.085.08

8. The sin we have done like cunning gamesters who break the law of the play, or
have done against the truth or what we have sinned in ignorance, all these cleave
far from us, O god, like loose-hanging fruits: then shall we be beloved of thee, O
Varuna.
8. The sin we have done as cunning gamesters offend in their play, our sin
against the truth and our sin by ignorance, all these cleave away like loosened
things; then may we be dear to thee, O Varuna.

Interpretation:
Cast away from us like things, which do not constitute the part of our being, or
loose in our being, namely the cunning cheater as in the game of dice, the
offender of the Truth, and the ignorant one. May we be always dear to you, O
Varuna!
It is interesting here to see these three personas within ourselves:
1) who has fun by playing with falsehood; kitava, a joking one; half-
conscious lier;
2) who offends the truth directly, a conscious lier;
3) who does not know the truth, an ignorant one, an unconscious lier.
All these three personas Varuna should cleave away from us, asks the Rishi, that
we may be dear to him.
There is a similar passage in the Gita in this regard, where Arjuna asks
forgiveness from Krishna for all his false actions that might have occurred in
their relations, when Krishna revealed him his Vivarpa:

sakheti matv prasabha yad uktam he ka he ydava he sakheti/
ajnat mahimnam tavedam may pramdt praayena vpi // 11. 41
yac cvahsrtham asatkto si vihra-ayysana-bhojaneu/
ekothavpy acyuta tat samakam tat kmaye tvm aham aprameyam// 11.42

1) ajnat may mahimnam tavedam pramdt praayena vpi, not knowing your
greatness because of my stupidity or because of my affection.
2) Or if you were disrespected jokingly: avahsrtham asatkto si.

Vocabulary:
kitava, m. , a gamester , gambler RV. VS. AV. &c.
rip, (cf. lip ; only pf. riripu) , to smear , adhere to (loc.) RV.; to deceive , cheat ib.
dv, f. (only dat. dve, loc. dvi) RV. ; gambling , playing with dice.
ithira, mf()n. (zrath) loose , lax , slack , flexible pliant , soft RV. AV. Br.