GC Narang - Message of the Vedas

8/7/2019 GC Narang - Message of the Vedas

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GCNar


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SIR GOKUL CHAND NARANGKt . M.A Ph.D . ex-M l A., Barrister-at-law.

Formerly Minister for localSelf-Government, Punjab.

NAWAB SALAA JUNO EAHAOUPI.

NEW BOOK SOCIETYPUBLISHERS, POST BOX No 47, LAHORE.


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The A uthor


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Published ByN. B. SEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR,NEW BOOK SOCIETY, LAHORE.

COPYRIGHT'R'eaerved By The Publishera

1ST EDITION 19062ND EDITION 1946

Printed ByPt. RAGHUNATH CHANDRA SHASTRI,at the V. V. R. I. Press, '7, Maclegan Road.

LAHORE.


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DEDICATED TOTHE SACRED MEMORY OF

M A H A R S H ISWAM~ D A Y A N A N D A S A R A S W A T I

The great reformer to whose efforts thewhole Hindu India owes a deepdebt of gratitude for reviving

the ancient religion astaught by the

Vedas.NAWAS SJu_t~RJUNG 8AHi\C'J~


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TABLE OF CONTENTSDedication 5Preface to the 1st Edition 11Preface to the 2nd Edition 15Introduction 2 .PART I.

Vedic Teachings.Sect ion . Subject . Page.1 The One withou t a S econd 652 The Omnipresent Lord 000 000 693 The Om niscient 000 714 The A lm ighty Creato r 765 He is Am rita and S ource of B liss "0 956 Sin-averter and S in-destroyer .o. 987 Pure and Purifier '0' . . . 1028 Lord of A ll .... 1049 S tay and Centre of A ll . . . . .... 10810 Guard of all and Refuge ... 11411 God as Friend . . . . . . 11812 God as Father 00. 0" 12213 God's Love ,.0 '0' 000 128


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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

There can hardly be anyone who looks upon theVedas as the Word of God and professes to regardthem as the sole authority. not only in Theologyand Ethics, but also in Philosophy and Science, butmust have felt the painful absence of a compendiouswork that would enable the believer to know whatmessage his Creator has sent him through thesebooks. The Vedas themselves are not so voluminousbut dealing with matters more serious than his-tories or stories of Tribes and adopting a methodmore recondite than fables and parables, they arerather too difficult for the uninitiated. The com-menararies. on the other hand, to which one mustnaturally look for help in this direction, are sovoluminous that they would actually break the back-bone of the student if he tried to carry them, notin his brain, but even on his back. Even if one hadthe calibre to resort to these heJps, they could affordbut poor help to those who have devoted the bestpart of their lives to the study for breadrather than to the study of the language in which,the ancient sects embodied the inspiration receivedas they believe from their Lord.


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It may be necessary to say a word about theplan of the work. Some might think that instead ofstringing together the Vedic verses in this way,the object might have been better served by detaileddissertations on the subjects, discussed in thebook, based on the verses now collected underdifferent headings. I was, however, deterredfrom undertaking this task not only by its difficultnature but by considerations of greater importance.Such discourses are not without their own value, butthey would not have served the object I had inview. The ordinary reader-the clerk who comeshome in the evening after driving the quill for six orseven hours, the pleader whose brain is steamingwith a whole-day's boiling-down of heaps of papers,the busy student whose tasks and examinations leavehim hardly any time even for physical exercise-canscarcely have the time or the inclination to unravelthe tangled skein of theological dissertations, in thescraps of time he can spare for relaxation. Thislittle book, as it is, will give him a peep into theVedas without exerting much strain upon his timeor brain. Moreover, though especially meant forthe hard-up man of business and the busy student,it will be found serviceable for citation by all classesof people who, whether as assailants or defenders,have any concern with the Vedas.


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It is hardly necessary to add that I do notclaim any credit for originality, but Ishall bepardoned, Ihope, if Iclaim some credit for thelabour, the work has required, and which only thosecan realise who have ever devoted some time tothe study of the V edas and have some idea of thenature of their contents.

In the compilation of the present work I havederived considerab le help from the works of Euro-pean S cholars, especially, Griffith, whose ex cellenttranslation of the V edas was frequently consultedby me and followed in many places M y thanks are,however, chiefly due to Pandit Raja Ramji, Professorof Theology, D . A . V . College, Lahore. It was inconjunction with him that the idea of such a workwas first conceived and developed and it is consider-ab ly due to his advice and erudition that it has beenbrought to a successful issue.

D . A . V . College, Lahore,N ovember 21, 1906. G . C . N ARANG


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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITIONThis little volume was compiled by me forty yearsago and my effort was very much appreciated bythe Arya Samaj leaders like the late Mahatma HansRaj, and the book was welcomed generally by thoseinterested to know what the Vedas taught. Soonafter its publication I went to England and on myreturn, my work at the Bar left me no time for anyliterary work. When last year the second edi tionof my book entitled, "Transformation of Sikhism"was published, the publishers suggested that the"Message" should also be re-published. 1 agreedand the result is this second edition of this littlebook.

The book is being published practically as itwas and I expect that those interested to have aglimpse into the Vedas wiII appreciate my humbleeffort.

So far as the interpretation of the Vedic textsis concerned, the key to it is provided by thewell-known text of Rig Veda I, 164,46. Ekam SatVirpa bahuda uadanti,I was very gratified to find that a scholar of

the position of Shri Aurobindo Ghosh, whoseimpartiality and independence of views cannot bequestioned, has ultimately come to the same conclu-sion as Swami Dayananda Saraswati and has givenfull support to the line of interpretation adopted bythe Maharshi and followed in this book. Hisremarks have been included in extenso in theIntroduction.Mussoorie ,19 July, lY46. G. C. NARANG


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IN1 'HODUOTION .W hat is more sacred than the V edas? W hatof greater interest to the Indo-E uropean races, andto the world, them these ancient scriptures of theHtndus . And yet what is more difficult than theV edas? The vicissitudes of fortune have dealt

w ith no other literature so cruelly as with theRevelation of the A ryas. N ot only have the modesof thought suffered an entire change during thelong vista of ages that have passed since the firstmantras of the V edas were chanted by the Rishis,but the language and its idioms, its sim iles andmetaphors have undergone a change which has noparallel in the literature of any other nation. Thelapse of ages would alone have b rought the V edasto this disadvantageous position, but the process wasaccelerated by the calamities that befe! th e fo llowersand, so to say, the guardians of the V edas. Theinternecine quarrels and the consequent foreign in-vasions gave a deadly b low to the V edic learningin India and destroyed many of the resources which,at this day, must have been of inestimab le value to thestudent of the V edas. God knows how many savantsof V edic lore fell victims to the M oslem fanaticism ,and how many valuab le lib raries were burnt toheat M ohammadan baths! A ll these circumstanceshave comb ined to create serious difficulties in theway of the students of the V edas, so that there are


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26 MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS

not many who agree with one another in theirconclusions about the origin, methods of interpre-tation and the position of these books. Not to speakof the difficulties one meets while studying theserecords of divine wisdom, there is wide differenceof opinion even about the definition and number ofthe Vedas.

THE VEDAS DEFINEDTwo extreme views are held on the subject. Themodern Hindus, before the advent of Swami Daya-nanda Saraswati, generally believed that the termVedas connoted not only the Samhitas but alsoincluded the Brahmanas and the Upanishads.Swami Dayananda was the first, among the modern

scholars, to explode this view and demonstrate thatthe Samhitas only formed the Vedas and they alonewere to be regarded as eternal, infallible, as Vedas,in fact The Brahmanas and Upanishads themselvesprofess to be mere parasites of the Vedas anddevote themselves respectively to the elucidationof the ritualistic and the philosophical portions ofthe Vedas. No Samhita, on the other hand, pro-fesses to hang upon any other Samhita as its para-site and devote itself to explain or elucidate anyportion of the others.

There are, moreover, stories in the Brahmanasand Upanishads as find no parallel in the Samhitas,It must be pointed out here, that some of the Euro-pean scholars have tried to deduce some historicaldetails from the Samhitas but no story beginning-.: ..1- WI"''''",,,,,, lII!lt.: 8,,[," And "There lived once, &c.,"


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS 27such as are of eommon occurrence in the Brah-manas and the Upanishads, has been found in theVedas even by the Europeans who are alwayssmelling out history in every nook and corner of aliterature.

Tradition plays a great part in clearing upmatters such as we are now discussing and all theevidence derived from this source is in favour ofthe view that the Samhitas only form the Vedasproper. PatanjaJi in his Mahabhashya alwaysquotes from the Samhitas to illustrate the specialrules applicable to Vedic Sanskrit, without quotinga single line or phrase from the Upanishads or theBrahmanas, while his non- Vedic illustrations includepassages from both the Brahmanas and the Upa-nishads.

Moreover, whereas the Brahmanas and the Upa-nishads are full of quotations from the Samhitas,the latter, though quoting from one another, donot quote a single line from the former.The Samhitas in several places apply theterm Veda to themselves but the Brahmanas and theUpanishads have nowhere laid the least claim to thisposition.In the light of this overwhelming evidencenothing but over-adulation and a mis-directed senseof reverence can lead one to place any other workon the same level \\ ith the Vedas. If the Vedasare looked upon as the revelation, it is a positiveinsult to them to give to any human book, how-


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soever sublime and excellent, the same reverenceas to them.

And none of the ancient masters has gone sofar except Kat\'ayana whose position must beaccounted for by his excessive reverence for all thatfacilitated the study of the Vedas.THE OTHER EXTREME

The other extreme is represented by those wholimit the number of the Vedas to three only.Happily this class is exclusively composed of Euro-pean Scholars and of (lminority among them. Theoriginal cause of this illusion, however, lies with theHindus themselves, though they are not to blameif others will not or cannot understand them. Themistake has evidently been caused hy a a misunder-standing of Manu and other Rishis of yore. Manusays (1. 23) :-

31ftrqt~~~ 5 ( q iT ~ ij;U~~ IW { ~ ftw ;J~ ~ ,~ : ijflJ ~ 1 J I 1 { II"From Agni, Vayu and Ravi (sun), He drewforth (lit, milked) for the accomplishment of sacrificethe eternal triple Veda, distinguished as Rik,Yajush, and Saman.' (Muir).We also read in Shatapatha Brahmana IV,6, 7, 1 .~1~~, 5ft~ ~~'f) i j n n f ; { ~ ~ IIThe Rich-, Yajush-, and Saman-, verses are

fhp rhreefold science.


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS 29In the Ait. Br, V., 32, too, we find

~sf~ ij ij . 1 : i j ~ ) ~1U :~~~ IIi. e. from these (lights), when heated, the threeVedas arose.The Chhandogya Upanishad also hasij~ f f i 1 { _ s r t I T ~flI;'lij~ II

i.e. He infused \V trmth into this triple science, (andfrom it, so heated, he drew forth its essences, theparticle Bhur from the Rik-Texts, &c.)But it should be remembered that Manu, as wellas the other authorities, does not mean to limit thenumher of the Vedas to three, but simply speaks of

the threefold science embodied in them. Not tospeak of the ninety-nine Hindu scholars supporting:this view, it is strongly confirmed by Prof. H. Kern,who says :-"When the Hindus speak of the three \ edas,they mean that there is a triple Veda consisting(1) of recited verses (Rich), (2) of verses sung'(Suman), and (3) of formulas in prose (Yajush), allthe three words being comprehended" under thename of "Mantras." Altogether independent of thethree sorts of mantras is the number of the collec-tions of them. 1hough flint' irere a hundred collec-tions. of mantras, the Veda is, and remains, three-fold * -t : * It does not need to be provedthat we must know the principle on which anydistribution proceeds before we can deduce any-conclusion from numbers."


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80 lIfE.SAGE OF THE ~EDAIIt is, consequently, nothing but short-sightedness

to limit the number of the Vedic collections to three.The Atharva Veda is as much a Veda as any ofthe other three. Its subject-matter is identical with,and considerably derived from, the Rig Veda. Be-fore citing any evidence from other sources it isnecessary to see if the Atharva Veda itself Jays anyclaim to the position of a Veda, and as one mightexpect, we indeed find this claim preferred by theAtharva Veda to rank equal with the other three.We find in the celebrated Skambha Sukta thecelebrated verse.~"''!~ :;ft ~~~ ~~~IJra: 'U"t fwl l m I J , { ; f~H~ ~ ~ 3T~ ~ ~ iT~m ~~I

From whom they cut 0(( as it were, the Rik andYajush verses, of whom the Saman verses are thehair and of whom the :\ tharvangirases form themouth.The claim of the Atharva Veda is admitted andsupported by the Rig Veda, as well as, the Yajur

Veda. We read in Rig Veda (X , 90, 9) and YajurVeda (XXXI, 7) :-~HlfIil~ijl~ r:j~~ij: ~~: i j ' I J r f W { ~ ~ I ~;:i!J'vfu~f~mT'! ~~~ll'~~rl~ IIFrom that great genera) sacrifice, the H . ig, theSarna, the Atharva- and the Yajur Vedas were pro-duced.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Chhandarn8i has been translated as Atharva veda 1I0toulv on Swami Dayauanda's authority but also 011 the


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),ISSSAGE OF THE VED.4S

We find this claim supported also in ShatapathaBrahmana, Xlll, 4, 3, 7.

"He teaches them thus, 'the Atharvans are aVeda, it is this.' "The European Scholars g'enerally bold that theA tharva V e -da, if a Ved a . at all, is of alater origin and came into existence when theother three Vedas had assumed the present forms.I'hose , who regard the Vedas as (he revealedword of God, may derive some consolation from thefact that even the European Scholars are not un-animous on this point. Prof. Kern, who has beenquote dabove, makes the following weighty remarkson thed ubject : "Sometimes it is difficult to guesswhat is smeant by older and younger. For example,the Atharva Veda is said to be younger than theRig Veda: that has become a sort of article offaith, which some uninitiated l eliever receives onthe authority of critics; whilst another, again. copieswith confidence wbat bas been asserted by theforme r. Now about half the hymns in the AtharvaVeda are, with the exception ot an occasional

'("(1 rictas Iectionis the same as in the k ig Veda, sothat the A tharva Veda cannot be younger than thel.zig Veda. And it could only be asserted that theremaining portion of the A. V. is of later date\\ hen grounds for this position, derived from langu-,age, versification, and style, &c., had been adduced,But, so far as I kr ow, no one has ever evenattempted to seek for such grounds."


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82 MESSAGE OF THE VEDAII

ARE THE VEDAS REVEALED?

Two kinds of evidence, Internal and External,can be adduced to prove or to disprove the propo-sition whether the Vedas are revealed.INTERNAL EVIDENCE.

Internal evidence, again, can be of two kinds;one referring to the claims preferred by the booksthemselves, the validity or the futility of their claimsjudged by the consistency or the inconsistency ofwhat is urged and, secondly, the quality of the stuffpresented. As regards the first we have alreadyseen that the Vedas do lay claims to the position ofa revealed book and profess to have directly pro-ceeded from divine source There are, according-to the European Scholars, traces in the Vedas of abelief, and data for the propounding of the theory,that all the Vedas did not come into existence atone and the same time, but as I shall try to showelsewhere, even i f there "ere such traces, theycould not shake the position of the Vedas as reveal-ed books. There are, so far as 1 em say, no con-tradictorv statements in the Vedas which mustdiscredit even a secular book in the eyes of thecritics.

As regard~ the quality of the teachings ( I f theVedas, I can simply say that i f the books dealingwith the whims and idio-yncrasies of individuals, re-cording their revolting crimes and atrocious cruel-ties, teeming with theories which the slightest pufof argument will blow otf and perpetrating a whole-- -


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS 83upon men the belief in the supernatural events andunnatural births and deaths-if, I say, such bookscan be believed to be the direct revelation fromGod, the Lord's choicest message sent to his sonsand daughters on earth, then it is a thousand timesmore rea -onable to believe that the Vedas, incul-cating the worship of one holy, just and mercifulGod, laying down a strict code of morality, andscrupulously free from absurd theories and outra-geous speculations is the revelation of God, Hisword, His cherished message to His children below.

If revelation, in the sense in which it is taken byall believers in revelation, were a possibility, theVedas wi I undoubtedly stand supreme and undis-putedly claim that high position. For if God is justand perfect, and re velation is the one, the chiefform in which He shows His mercy and love forman, it must have been given in the beginning andGod should not have had any reason to alter Hisformer decrees, or stand in need of a second, andthird and a fourth revelation to perfect His firstrevelation. A faith in revelation compels one, bya logical necessity, to accept the Vedas ,IS, the realrevelation, Ior the Vedas are the oldest booksclaiming to be the word of God. It must be a strangesort of love and mercy which should have kept man-kind, in their infancy, without a guide, philosopherand friend, when they required it most, and shouldhave kept them waiting for thousands of years tillsome instructions were sent down to guide themin this strange land where they had fallen downfrom Eden or paradise.


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS

The idea suggested by some critics that theRishis whose names are given in the Vedas alongwith the meters, &c., where the authors of theVedas, is scouted by the ancient commentators andit is urged that these Uisbis (seers/ did not compose,bu t simply sa w or realized the sense of the mantrasto which the ir names (Ire attached.

EXTERNAL EVIDENCE.The external evidence thar the fol lowers ( I f theV edas adduce in favour of their view is not of an

historical nature such as has b een given by thedefenders 01 the B ib le , in the attempt to prove theB ib le to b e the word of God. Nor is it based uponthe h isto rical evidence of the o ther kind suchas given in favour of the Qoran, for which a divinesource is claim ed on the ground that its apparentand ostensib le au thor was qu ite unlette red and didnot k now B trom a batt ledoor, and consequently theQoran, full of j()fty teachings, and couched in a sub-lim e language , cou ld no t b u t have proceeded from adivine source. No sue h evidence is possible lo r theV edas and 1 th ink it better for the Vedas that theydo no t depend upon such evidence fo r the mainten-ance of th eir au th ority. In my opinion, a book doesnot gain much in value from the circu.nsi ance that itwas w ritten , o r, say, sent to an ignorant fisherm an orto an untu to red person, who never occupied h im selfw ith the pursu it of learning.

The external evidence w hich Gill b e given inIavour of the ex alted position 01 the V edas is ofpersons whose sincerity and earnestness the world


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDA'8

has admitted, and whose fights of thought and im-agination the enlightened races of the world are yetstruggling to follow. Considered from a strictlylogical point o f view, the evidence of these men maynot be conclusive and may not convince the logicalsceptic. But the whole body of ancient writers ofthe sacred literature of the Hindus declaring withone voice the superhuman origin of the Vedas andbowing like one man before their authority; is a factwhich possesses a special significance for a Ilindu.Theories of revelations may undergo changes, as,even now there exist important difference in theconceptions of revelation that each class o fbelievers in revelation has; t hese conceptions mayin the future undergo much more serious changes,but the question whether a particular book shouldbe held up as the chid :.,:uide in matters ol beliefand worship will always be there, and the principalquestion that will always be asked "ill be, "Doesit deserve the position oj a guide ? " And here onecan boldlv sa~ that the Vedas have been satisfyingthe needs of tile greatest thinkers and reasoners ofthe \\ orld for thousands of years in the past and\\ ill uuuoubu-dlj c..uiinue to sati:-.ty the \\ ants oftheir less \\ orihy descendants.

It will require a whole volume to quote, in full,the evidence the kishis ot yore bore in favour of theVedas. The reader must.jheretore, content himselfwith a peep into the vast literature which our ances-tors have bequeathed to us 011 this point. The worksnext to the Vedas in 5anctity are the Brahmanas andthe Upanishads. Then come the Sutras based uponthem The Darshanas and ~mritis come next and


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8 6 MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS

the Epics and the Puranas, together with the com-mentaries, represent the last" stages of the sacredliterature of the Hindus, and each o f these massiveworks bears po werful testimony to the undisputedauthority of the Vedas and pays due homage totheir di vine sanctity.

The Shatapatha Brahmana, e. g , says in X I, 5 ,8 ,1.~~~~j\~~ ~: 3Hf~ij II" From these (Agni, Vavu and Ravi) being- heat-ed, the three Vedas were produced."The Taittiriya Brahmana has-! m r t f f i J m ~U~~lt~~ij I ~;r~ ~~r: 3 T ; ; ; r -

~tJ~ II S f t o ~ I ~0 II"Prajapati created King Soma and afterwardsthe triple Vedas were produced."W e find in the same Brahm ana al? ain,~ftt;:,,~ij ij ~~~ I ~0 ~~ I ~ 'I

"He who does not know the Vedas, does notknow Him who is great."The Chbandogya Upanishad repeats what hasbeen affirmed by the Shatapatha,m : r t ijttJ"J;fT~t ~ 6 r ; r S 1 T ~ ~ ~ 3 T ~ ~ ~ -

~ ~ ( i f 6T qr;:tl,~q,~ II"From them so heated, He drew forth their

essence, from Agni. Rich, trorn Vayu, Yaju andfrom Aditya or Ravi, S arna."The Brihadaranyaka observes :


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS 37

ij (f~ q r ; : r r i jW f f iq ; : J f ~ ij~"~ij ~~f~~S R ~ T tJ~ft T m f o i ~~Ttm II"By that speech and that soul He created allthis, the Richas, Yajush and Samans and theChhandas (Atharvans), etc."The same Upanishad also says:

3T~~) ~~q A:~ft :r r i t i j~~i~~: II"These Rig Veda, (etc ,) are the breathings ofthe Mighty Lord."The authors of the Darshanas, rigorous logiciansas they were, humbly acknowledged the infallibility!pf the VedasKanada, the author of the Vaisheshika system ofPhilosophy, says :-~~q:q;n~r~ ! { T l f 1 1 R J ' l _ I

This means that the Vedas being His word'are authorities. In the same way Gotama, the.author of the Nyaya system of Philosophy, recog-.nizes the Vedas to be ST~ or authoritative in thefollowing aphorism :-..."." ;:ijT9;q ~ r1fT tnF.f~ ~ ~ T"rQq t:rmm"lu~ I

And also "~ftr~l~l~ltT."Similarly, Kapila, the authorof Sankhya system of Philosophy, recognizes theVedas to be ~11Jl or infallible authority in thefollowing aphorism :-~~i: ~ e m : 3 J r ' l r u q ' l _ IIn the Mimansa of Jaimini we find the following:i t ~ t J ~ ~ m~~ ,


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which means that the Veda is authority inmatters of Dharma.The Smritis echo the same sentiments. Says Manu:~sf(_?@'~~ ~~rn~~ ~ ijft~l~ I3 lT~n:~ ijf'i.w{TqRq~~~:q I~ : t f i f ~ q _tfi~qf:q~~~~~T qft~,reij! Iij ijijsf~f&ar~~ ij~~r-Jq~ ~ ij! IIij~ ~ ~~- i t f ~ f ~ ~fo:{~~}U I~ R r J l r ' I T u q f f l fq~~ ~~if f~fq~ij~ IIDharma rests on the whole Veda, on theteachings and conduct of those who know the Veda,on the conduct of good men, and on the satistactionof one's conscience. Manu states that all dharmawhich has been propounded by him is contained inthe Veda, the whole of which is true knowledge.Manu directs that a man should determine his

dharma by the authority of the Veda. In Vrihas-pati Smriti we find the following :-- '~~~qf~~ I [~ J l r ~ r ~ r . fit ~ ;U ~~ i j rIq;q~ " f . I t R t a l ~ r ijT ~~rn;{q ~~ij II

This means that Manu is founded on the Vedasand is, therefore, an authority; a Smriti which isagainst the teachings of Manu is not to be honoured."The Puranas are generally discarded as full of

absurditIes but to me they do not seem to form an.For the last page or so I am indebted to the late R. fl.

Lala M ul Raj, M . A" Premchand Roycha nd S c holar,


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exception to the rule, there is the soul of good inevery thing. They are, at this day, the sourceof inspiration to millions and millions of Hindus whohave never read or heard a line from the Vedas.The evidence of the Puranas, therefore. is not with-out its value in admitting and proclaiming the divineorigin of the Vedas, more so, because the Puranasare believed to be responsible for having displacedthe Vedas.

The Vishnu Purana says :--tTT:I.i:{~ ~:q~~q ~~~r"~;:~~3Tftr~ilt~:I.i~ ~f ~ ~'"' ! l ~ " " ~~ ~ I I"From His Eastern mouth Brahrna" formed the

*Brahma has scarcely been understood in the right senseof the word. The Creator 8S pervader of the universe in itssecond stage, i. e., when matter has been set in motion beforebeing divided into the various hea.venly bodies, is known asHiranyagarbha, Parmeshtin or Brahms, His four facesmetaphorically represent His omni-presence and Omniscience.Cf. R. X. 81, 3 (p, 23).

Itis also popularly believed that Brahma sprang from thenavel of Vishnu, and Vishnu is said to be reclining under thewaters with his consort Lakshmi. The authors of the Puranasmade the mistake of carrying metaphor and personificationtoo far in the domain of religion but a peep into the Vedaswill show that it is nothing but a partial statement of thetheory of creation given in the Vedas themselves. "Vishnuresting under the waters with Lakshmi" simply means "theall-pervading Lord with Royal dignity pervading matterbefore any motion was produced in it." "Brahma sprangforth from his navel" only implies that Vishnu came to becalled Hiranyagarbha, Parmeshtin or Brahms when matterhad been stirred by the cyclic motion. It will now appearthat the theory of Brahmas authorship of the Vedas does notclash with the view held by Swami Dayananda,


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40 MESSAGE OF THE VEDASGayatra, the Rich verses, the Trivrit, Sarna, Rathan-tara &c." and the Yajur, &c., from his southernmouth and so on.The Bhagvat Purana says :--

~~qp:ffl: ~~~: 3 lT~ : q ~ i ~ r . JI


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.ESSAGEOF THE VEDA.

'i\fter millions of years o f - natural evolution theVedas must be supposed to date from that period.Taking it for granted that they were not givenin the beginning of the world nor in the beginningof the human creation, they are still older than anyother scriptures in the world,dating back to:l,OOO-oOO B. C. according to a host of Europeanscholars, to ~,OOO years B. C. according to Prof.

Jacobi of Bonn and to some 20,000 years B. C.according to Lokmanya B.G. Tilak whose calculationsare based upon astronomical considerations. Conse-quently, i f antiquity, as Ishowed before, is to beone of the factors of revelation, this honour belongsto the Vedas rather than to any other book of theworld.THE TEACHINGS OF THE VEDAS.

The position of a book must ultimately dependupon the quality of its contents, and the tone of itsteachings. Judged by this standard the Vedasoccupy a very high place among the Bibles of thenations. The ideals placed before man. are amongthe highest. Purity of thought, truthfulness ofspeech, holiness of actions, justice, integrity, manli-ness, hospitality, liberality and other virtues of thiskind have been strongly emphasized in th.e Vedas.As regards their philosophical teachings, it is need-less to say that they have even no second amongthe scriptures of the world. Other books haveeither refrained from dealing with such matters ortheir theories are such as one would findit very difficult to reconcile with Jogicand science. The Vedas, on the. other


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MESSAGE OF TBE VEDAS

hand, do not avoid handling such topics and evensceptics admit that some of the speculations in theVedas are far too high for the primitive men towhom they are attributed by ignorant or prejudi cedwriters. For the details ot the teachings of theVedas the reader must g) through the body of thisbook and, still better, through the whole of theVedas, but there are some points which deserve tobe discussed here. The most important of thernisthe subject of

THE CONCEPTION OF GOD IN THE VEDAS.On no subject has there been greater divergenceof opinion than on this subject. Since the discoveryof Sanskrit in the West the opinions of the Western

Scholars have been undergoing important modifica-tions as regards the theism of the Vedas. Therewas a time when they held, and there are even no"some benighted laggards who hold, that the Vedasteach Polytheism. And there is no wonder thatthis should have been the first conclusion arrivedat in the West about the creed of the Vedas. Thereare millions of Hindus at the present day who,though knowing God to be one, and cleverly dis-cussing His oneness, betray in their practice a beliefin more gods than one. The evidence thus affordedby tradition combined with the apparent fact thatthe Vedas celebrate the praises of Agni, Vayu,Surya anJ a host of other gods and offer theirprayers to them, must naturally lead the uninitiatedstudent to fasten polytheism on the Vedas. But asone gets a closer insight into them one observesthat the so called gods in the Vedas are, in the first


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS 43place, all of the same rank, each of them possessingequal powers with the others, nay, each being ex-tolled as Almighty, All-pervading, All-knowing, infact, possessing the powers of the one Creator, andrepresented as the Paramount Lord of all, Secondly,the gods are interchangeable in their names. InR. III. 9, 2, and 3, for instance, the prayer is offeredto Mitra and He is again addressed as Aditya in thesame line of the same mantra" Thirdly, theVedas declare, in unmistakable terms, the unityof God-head and emphasize it so repeatedly as toprove it beyond doubt that the Vedas, arenot ignorant of the oneness of God.

The matter is really set at rest by the well-knownverse of the Rigveda.He is one, sages call Him by many names e.g.,Agni, Varna, Matarishvanan, etc. This should reallybe conclusive on the point and should be taken as thekey to the interpretation of all apparently polytheis-tic expressions in the Vedas-The last fact is admitted by all European Scholars,the second is not touched, so far as I know, and the

first has been explained away in different ways.Prof. Max Muller found its solution in what henamed "Henotheism ,. and Prof. Macdonell hasavoided this difficulty by ascribin2 it to exaggeration,*It is believed by some that Mitra is the name of an

Aditya and Adityas are the sons of Aditi, i.e., the earth. Butit should be remembered that Aditi is the Infinite Power orall-knowing God and according to Yajn, XXXII, I, "He isAgni, He is Aditya , He is Brahms, He is Prajapati,"so that "Mitra is Aditya" amounts to saying that Mitra isPrajapat' or Brarnha Of God.


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pure and simple, and has, practically speakingretained the charge .of polytheism against thVedas.

To take Henotheisrn first. In the first place itinot admitted by many of the European scholars (eminence. Secondly, it appears to be more reasorable to Qelieve that the Books strongly declarinthe unity of Godhead in hundreds ot places ancontaining such statements as are given in the finselection of this volume, ascribed infinite and panmount powers to Indra, Agni and others becausthey believed them to be the same one Creator undidifferent names and different aspects, rather thathe theory whose only proof lies in the statement Ithe sense attached to the term by its inventoMacdonell's theory of exaggeration also is not baseon sufficient grounds. If you worship one god iexclusion of the others, you are justified, nay, it me:be a merit, to exhaust all the powers of exaggeraticin extolling the deity you worship. But i f y(worship more gods than one and praise them wilthe same fervour and attribute the same, the highepowers to all, you will be provoking their wrath armaking a tool of yourself by your inconsistent coduct. Now the Rishis, the authors of the VedHymns, according to Prof. Macdonell, were not Iilthe Vaishnavas or Shaivas of to-day who adhereODe god and repudiate the others. They, on the oth.hand, praise Indra in one Hymn and pay thehomage to Soma in another, to Vayu in the thiand so on, sometimes to many in the same mantrAnd i f they 'are credited with the least sensepropriety and even eriquette.s--and the authors


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YE88Ac,lE OF THE VEDAS '5:the. Veda cannot be said to have been mere foolsand idiots-they could not mock their gods in theway Prof Macdonell's theory would suggest. Noris there in the whole range of the Vedas a singleline in which. a Rishi has apologised to one goorpaying the same degree of homage to his rival.

These considerations show that the Vedasrepresent the apparently different gods as eachbeing paramount because really the same OneBeing is referred to under different names andaspects

The difficulty arising from a mention of appa-rently different gods can be solved in more waysthan one.In many places a mere misunderstanding' of the

li~ures of speech, like' Personification and! Apos-tronhe, has led to the notion of fire, wind, dawn,etc., being taken as gods.The Pantheistic theory has been resorted to inorder to explain the apparent diversity of gods byreferring to them as the mere manifestations of theone Supreme Being. The' general tone of the

Vedas, however, its sacrifices and prayers, renderit improbable that the Vedas inculcate Pantheism.A far more reasonable view is that advocated bySwami Dayananda According to this view there isonly one sup-erne Being described in the Vedas, andAgni , Vayu, etc., are merely His different names, res- .

pectively indicating His most important attributes.This discovery made again in the 1


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46 MESSAGE oF THE VEDAS

This view is evidently based upon one importantGrammatical distinction, Swami Dayananda urgedthat the words used in the Vedas are mostly emp-loyed in their etymological sense and undoubtedlythis slight distinction has gone a great way in clear-ing up many difficulties and exonerating the Vedasfrom the charge of polytheism, and other theismsinvented and fastened upon them by the Westernscholars.

It would be well to quote here from an article byShriyut Aurobindoh Ghosh on the interpretation ofthe Vedas :-t' if ever there was a toil of interpretation inwhich the loosest vein has been given to an ingeneious speculation, in which doubtful indications havebeen snatched at as certain proofs in which theboldest conclusions have been insisted upon with thescantiest justification, the most enormous difficultiesignored and preconceived prejudice rn iintained inface of the clear and often admitted suggestions ofthe text, it i'\ surely this labour, so eminently respec-table otherwise for its industry, good will and powerof research, performed through a long century byEuropean Vedic scholarship.

"What is the main positive issue in this matter?An interpretation of Veda must stand or fall by itscentral conce ption of the Vedic Religion and theamount of support given to it by the intrinsic evildence of the Veda itself. Here Dayananda's viewis; quite clear, its foundation inexpungable. TheVedic Hymns are chanted to the One Deity .mdermany names, names which are used, and even


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS 4 . ' 1

designed, to express His qualities and powers.Was this conception of Dayananda's arbitrary conceitfetched out of his own too ingenious imagination?Not at all ; it is the explicit statement of the Vedaitself 'One Existent, sages' not the ignorant. mindyou but the seers, Men of direct knowledge,"speak of in many 'ways, as Indra and Varna, asMatariswan, as Agni'- The Vedic Rishis oughtsurely to have known something about their Reli-gion, more, let us hope, than Roth or Max-Muller;and this is what they knew.

"We are aware how modern scholars twist awayfrom the evidence This Hymn, they say, was a lateproduction, this loftier ideal, which it expresses wi thso dear a force rose up, somehow, in the laterAryan mind, or was borrowed by them from theirDravidian enemies, But throughout the Veda wehave confirmatory Hymns and expressions : Agnior Indra or any other is expressly hymned as onewith all the other-gods. Agni contains all otherDivine Powers within Himself, the Maruts are des-cribed as all the gods, one Deity is addressed by theNames of others as well as His own, or most comm-only. He is given, as Lord and King of the Universe,attributes only appropriate to the Supreme Deity.Ah: but that cannot mean, ought not to mean. mustnot mean, the worship of the one. Let us invent anew word, call it 'henotheism', and suppose thatthe Rishis did not really believe Indra or Agni tobe the Supreme Deity, but treated any god andevery god as such for the nonce, perhaps, that he. might feel the more flattered and lend a more gra-


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cious ear for so hyperbolic a compliment: Butwhy should not the foundation of Vedic thought benatural monotheism rather than this new-fangled.monstrosity of henotheism? Well, because primitivebarbarians. could not possibly have risen to suchhigh conceptions and if you, allow them to haveso risen, you imperil our theory of evolutionarystages of human development and you destroy ourwhole idea about the sense of the Vedic Hymnsand their place in the history of mankind. Truthmust hide herself,' common sense must disappearfrom the field, so that a theory may flourish: Iask,in this point. and it is the fu ldaRlental point, whodeals most straightforwardly with, the text,Dayananda or the Western scholars?

" But if this fundamental point of Dayananda's isgranted, if the character given by the Vedic Rishisthemselves to their gods is admitted, we are bound,whenever the Hymn speaks of Agni or another,to see' behind that Name present always to thethought of the Rishi the one Supreme Deity orelse one of His Powers with its attendant qualitiesor workings. Immeditaely the whole character ofthe Veda is fixed in. the sense Dayananda gave toit, the merely ritual, mythological, polytheistic inter-pretation of Sayana collapses, the metrological andnaturalistic European interpretation collapses. \Vehave, instead, a real Scripture, one of the world'ssacred books, and the Divine Word of a lofty andnoble Re1igi


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Names of the God-heads express qualities of the OneGod-head, and it is these which the Rishis adored,and towards which they directed their aspiration,then there must inevitably be in the Veda a largepart of psychology of Divine Nature, psychology ofthe relations of man with God and a constant indica-tion of the law governing man's God-ward conduct.Dayananda asserts the presence of such an ethicalelement; he finds in the Veda the law of life givenby God to the human beings. And i f the Vedic God-heads express the Powers of the Supreme Deitywho is the Creator, Ruler and Father of theUniverse, then there must inevitably be in the Vedaa large part of cosmology, the law of creation andof cosmos. Dayananda asserts the presence of sucha cosmic element; he finds in the Veda the secretsof creation and the law of Nature by which theOmniscient governs the world.

t.lo~ ~,.J~' ~,,' ' , l..It Neither Western Scholarship nor ritualisticlearning has succeeded in eliminating the psycholo-gical and ethical value of the Hymns, but theyhave both tended in different degrees to minimise it.

Western scholars minimise, because they feeluneasy whenever ideas that are not primitive seemto insist on their presence in these primeval utteran-ces; they do not hesitate openly to abandon incertain passages interpretations which they adoptin others and which are admittedly necessitated bytheir own philological and critical reasoning; be-cause, if admitted always, they would often involvein deep and subtle psychological conceptions whichcannot have occurred to primitive minds! Sayanaminimises, because. his theory of Vedic discipline


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MESSA.GE OF THE VEDAS

was not ethical righteousness with a moral andspiritual result, but mechanical performance of ritualwith a material reward. But inspite of these effortsof suppression, the lofty ideas of the Vcd iwill revealthemselves in strange contrast to its alleged burdenof fantastic naturalism or dull ritualism. The VedicGod-heads are constantly hymned as Masters ofWisdom, Power, Purity, Purifiers, Healers of griefand evil, Destroyers of sin and falsehood, Warriorsfor the Truth , constantly the Rishis pray to themfor healing and purification, to be made seers ofknowledge, possessors of the truth, to be upheld inthe Divine Law, to be assisted and armed withstrength, manhood and energy. Dayananda hasbrought this idea of Divine right and truth into theVeda: the Veda is as much, and more, a bookof Divine Law as Hebrew Bible or ZoroastrianAvesta.

\; The cosmic element is not less conspicuous inthe Veda. The Rishis speak always of the worlds,the firm laws that govern them, the Divine working"in the cosmos, But Dayananda goes further: heaffirms that the truths of modern physical science arediscoverable in the Hymns. Here we have the solepoint of fundamental principle about which there canbe any iustifiable misgivings. I confess my incom-petence to advance any settled opinion in the matter.But this much needs to be said: that his idea isincreasingly supported by the recent trend ofknowledge about the ancient world. The ancientcivilization did possess secrets of science, some ofwhich modern knowledge has recovered, extendedand made more rich and precise, but others are even


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now not recovered. There is then nothing fantasticin Dayananda's idea that Veda contains truths ofscience as well as truths of Religion. I will evenadd my own conviction that Veda contains othertruths of a Science the modern world does not at allpossess, and in that case Dayananda has ratherunderstated than overstated the depth and range ofthe Vedic Wisdom.

" Objection has also been made to the philologicaland etymological method by which he arrived at hisresults especially in his dealings with the names ofthe God-heads. But this objection, Ieel certain, isan error due to our introduction of modern ideasabout language into our study of this ancient tongue.We moderns use words as counters without anymemory or appreciation of their original sense:when we speak, we think of the object spoken of,not at all of the expressive word, which is to us adead and brute thing, mere coin of verbal currencywith no value of its own. In early language theword was, on the contrary, a living thing withessential powers of signification; its root-meaningswere remembered because they were still in use; itswealth. of force was vividly present to the mind ofthe speaker. We say 'wolf', and think only of theanimal; any other sound would have served ourpurpose as well, given the convention of its usage;the ancients said 'tearer' and had that signifi-cance present to them. We say 'agni' and thinkof fire, the word is of no other use to us ; to theancients 'agni' means other things besides, and onlybecause of one, or more of irs root-meanings wasapplied to the physical object fire. Our words are


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carefully limited to one o r two senses; theirs werecapable of a great number, and it was quite-easyfor them, it they so chose, to use a word like Agni,Varuna or Vayu as a sound-index of a great numberof connected and complex ideas, a key-word. Itcannot be doubted that the Vedic Rishis did takeadvantage of this greater potentiality of theirlanguage, note their dealings with such words as gauand chandra. The Nirukta bears evidence to thiscapacity, and in the Brahmans and Upanishdas wefind the memory of this free and symbolic use ofwords still subsisting.

" Certainly Dayananda had not the advantagethat a comparative study of languages gives to theEuropean scholar ... but he stands justified by thesubstance of Veda itself, by logic and reason and byour growing knowledge of the past of mankind. TheVeda does hymn The One-Deity-Of-Many-Names-And- Powers; it does celebrate the Divine Law andman's aspiration to .fultil it; it does purport to giveus the law of the cosmos.

"On the question of revelation .suffice it to saythat here too Dayananda was perfectly, logical, andit is quite grotesque to charge him with in sinceritybecause he held to and proclaimed the doctrine,There are always three fundamental entities whichwe have to admit and whose relations we have toknow if we would understand existence at all, God.Nature and the SouL If, as Dayananda held onstrong enough grounds, the Veda reveals to us God.reveals to us law of Nature, reveals to us the rela-tions of the Soul to God and Nature, what is it but


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAI

Revelation of Divine Truth? And if, as Dayanandheld, it reveals them to us with a perfect trutlflawlessly, he might well hold it for an infallible Serifture , The rest is a question of the method (revelation, of Divine dealings with our race, of man'psychology and possibilities. Modern thoughaffirming Nature and Law, but denying God, deniealso the possibility of revelation, but so also has:denied many things which a more modern thought ivery busy reaffirming. We cannot demand ofgreat mind that it shall make itself a slave to vulga:ly received opinion or the transient dogmas, thvery essence of its greatness is this; that it lookbeyond, that it sees deeper."

'" In 'the matter of Vedic interpretation" declareSri Aurobindo in the concluding portion of his artich'I I am convinced that, whatever may be the tinacomplete interpretation, Dayananda will be honoureas the first discoverer of the right dues. Amid!chaos and obscurity of old ignorance and age-Ionmisunderstanding, his was the eye of direct visiothat pierced to the truth and fastened on that whicwas essential. He has found the keys of the doorthat time had closed and rent asunder the seals cthe imprisoned Fountain?"

Another method of interpretation has been suggested, promising to clear away all obstacles, anat the same time throwing a great light on thsubject of the conception of God in the Vedas. Tw. importantaspectsof Godhead have been suggested ithe Vedas. One has been denoted in the Upanishadby the term Shudha (Pure, absolute) and the otheby Skabala (spotted or personal' or 'conditioned


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Considered in His own being i.e., as distinct fromHis relation with the Universe, He is called Shudha,while considered as the Creator, the Upholder, andthe Destroyer of this Universe, in short, consideredin His relations with Maya, He is called Shabala.Shabala has, again, been viewed in two aspects, asindividual and as collective. In His collectiveaspect He is connected with Maya by three links.First as the Pervader of Matter before it yielded tothe cyclic motion, called Prayata ; Secondly, as theproducer of the Mandane egg or the nebular formof matter from which heavens and earths and sunsand stars were born, called Hiranyagarbha, Brahmaor Parmeshtin; Thirdly, as the life and spirit of thevarious bodies which arose from the nebular form,called Pursha or Virat, In this last aspect He is,in the Purusha Sukta, identified with the creation,forming the suns and stars and heaven and earths,the Brahmanas and. Kshatryas, Vaishyas andShudras.

This view not only explodes the Pantheistictheory but also accounts for the Powers of Naturebeing here and there invoked as gods or the mani-festations of the Virat It is on the strength of thisview that I have substituted in some places thesingular number for the plural in the original.CAN SINS BE DESTROYED?

I have devoted one section of my book to thissubject and the verses I have quoted there showthat one of God's attributes is that He is Sin-des-troyer. It is, however, important to understand inwhat sense the sins are destroyed. The Vedas do


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MESSAGE OF THE l"EDAS 55not advocate the theory that sin is a pencil-scrawland repentance is the rubber that blots it out rStill, however, the destruction of sins is admitted,and it would be certainly a poor conception of God'smercy to suppose that tIe cannot or will not saveman from sin, and help him to destroy his sins If heearnestly desired to get rid of them. Nor does itseem to be quite unreasonable to believe that theeffect of sin can be counteracted, though it can inno case be annihilated.

The effect produced upon our soul bv ourKarmas is regulated by the, combined force -of ourgood and- bad actions. In other words, if we com-pare our soul to a point and represent our actions asvarious forces acting upon it, the conclusion is plainthat the effect on our soul would be equal to theresultant of the forces acting upon it. If this con-clusion be true, and there is nothing to render itunwarranted, it will be seen that though neither ofthe forces has been destroyed, both have beenmodified in their effect, each counteracting the otherpartially or wholly as if destroying it to that extent.The effect of bad actions has not been destroyed.They have had their course in a'Smuch as they haverequired to much effor t and virtuous energy toneutralize their effect. It sin be like the dirt upona cloth, it cannot be said to have been lost when ithas taken a pretty Jarge quantity of soap to coun-teract and transform it. The past Karmas aregenerally likened to an arrow which has been shotand cannot turn back. 'I he comparison is a mostappropriate one and shows the unfailing effect ofsins or virtueas deeds done in the past, bdt what,


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56 MESSAGE OF '1'B:E VEDASif the man, shot at, unconsciously or deliberatelymoves behind a pillar or wall or places a shieldbefore him. The arrow has struck its aim, but the cons-cious or unconscious effort of the man has obviated itseffect, so that in one sense both the past and the pre-sent actions have been mutually destroyed while inanother sense both exist and have done their work.In the same way the past sins must tell upon thesou! unless good deeds intervene and shield it fromharm. The Mundaka Upanished supports this viewin unmistakable terms in the well-known line:~rit ~ ~ ~ i f U l ~ ~ {!quS~~II"All his actions are destroyed when he beholds theall-comprising Lord ;" and the view is corroboratedalso in the Chhandogya Upanishad, and it is in thisspirit that the Smritis have prescribed various sortsof penances for various sins.

God is, therefore, sin-destroyer and the way inwhich He destroys sins is by strengthening theearnest penitent to withstand the future onslaughtsof evil one and nulHfy the effect of the past sins byvirtuous energy and righteous conduct in the futureIf by this conduct the old sinner has raised a higtwall of virtue round himself, he will, by God's graceenjoy perpetual safety from the attacks of Nemesiand Retribution.

Before Idose, I must say a few words about thTHEORY OF CREATIONas given in the Vedas and it may be remarked jthe o.tset that the Vedas do not countenance all


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of the three theories genera1Jy upheld by variousclasses of people. The theory, of the creationspringing up out of nothir g*, finds no support in IheVedas. Nor is the Theory of Evolution maintained inthe Vedas, if evolution means the unfolding ofmatter into gradually improved forms without thehelp of a conscious agent, for the whole of the Vedais devoted to the glorification of an AlmightyCreator. Nor does the Pantheistic theory of crea-tion find any support in the Vedas. For existence oftwo beings is distinctly mentioned in Rig Ve da.1,IM,20 and the following verse from theShvetashvatar.i Upanished (IV. _:,).clearly mentionsthe matter also as an unborn entity like God andthe human spirit.3 15tlitq J ~ )f~ J j! ic lJ1 t ~~tTl :~~r:~"Til t

. . . .mqr: I 3 1 m ~)f l ) ~lons~~ ~(T~~~mi(HtmS;;t{: II

It is common with the upholders of the Pantheis-tic theory to quote the following line from theMundaka Upanishad (1. 1, 7.)tp.f lof;nfl l : '.llt~ 1 ! ~ u f f l ' ~ I I

.Ithas, perhaps, never occurred to the assailants, norto the defenders of these books that the command or wish ofGod, 'Let there be water and there Was water, etc., or 'Beand it was,' are not opposed to the theory of the eternity ofmatter and souls. For unless creation be supposed to be thethe result of a fortuitous concourse of atoms and molecules,it is in every case the wish or command of the Creator thatcalls fort h the universe. These commands ruther prove moreconclusively that there already existed something or somebody to be commanded,


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58"Just as the spider creates and catches," SwamDayananda has, however, explained the line in ;

way which seems to be much more in keeping wit!the spirit of the Vedas, The spider undoubtedlytakes nothing from without to spin its cobweb, buithe material Jay in its body, so also God being allpervading and comprehending all, the matter anespirits Ja y all within Him and sprang out of Him irthe way suggested by the Upanishad.The Vedas, then, represent God as the instru-mental, efficient or prime cause of the Universe ancthe eternal matter as its material cause. The way irwhich the creation unfolded itself is mainly the sarnras upheld by the modern theory of Evolution, witlthis reservation that the agent bringing about thegradual changes is neither chance nor any inherenqualities of matter alone but the controlling ancguiding power ot God. The creation, mot eoverproceeds in cycles, the universe lasting for a ver~long period, practically called Brahrna's day, (consisting according to astronomical calculations 04,320,000,000 years) and followed by a period 0non-existence or unmanifested existence for a similaperiod, called Brahma's night, and this process inatural.The matter lying lifeless during this night is ilthe Vedas called Salila (calm waters) and Vishrnwith Lakshmi, His creative power or Royal dignitysits in the midst of it. Towards the end of thi

period of non-existence, God produces an agitatioin matter, so that it begins to revolve and takes aegg-Jike form. God as pervading this state cmatter, called Apah, (flowing waters), is calle:


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llESSAGE OF THE VEDAS 59Hiranyagarbha, the Golden Egg of Europeanscholars. From this egg of revolving matter,generating heat, sprang stars and planets andsatellites and all material creation. God as theDesigner of matter in these various forms is calledBrahma, so that there is nothing un-Vedic in thetheory that 8rahma created the world, for it is fromBrahrna that creation in its details, so to say, sprangforth.

There are also hints in the Vedas which seen tosupport creation or manifestation by stages ratherthan the theory that the world, as it is, came intoexistence all at one time. Creation and Evolutionare thus blended together in the Vedic view otcreation, as has been perceived and stated with somedisparagement, by Prof. Macdonell who says that" Tn the somewhat confused account given in RigVeda X. 72), three steps of creation may be distin-zuishcd.?"Strictly speaking it does not falJ within theprovince of this introduction to discuss how theEuropean scholars have understood or misunder-

stood the Vedic theory of creation, but I cannot helpsaying a few words abou t the confusion into w hiehProf. Macdonell has fallen while discussing the sub-ject. He say- in his History of Sanskrit Literature,(Page 132):*IIIn the view of the older Rishis, the gods ingeneral, or various individual deities, "Genen:lted"-Monier williams hal also suggested that Hindus wereevolutionist. ever before the theory of evolution was discoveredjn Europe.


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s o MESSAGE OF TUR VED&.Sthe world. This view conflicts with the frequentlyexpressed notion that heaven and earth are theparents of gods. The poets thus involve themselvesin the paradox that the children produce their ownparents. Indra, for instance, is described in so manywords as having begotten his father and motherfrom his own body (X., 54, 3.) This conceit evident-ly plea .ed the fancy of a priesthood becoming moreand more addicted to far-fetched speculations; forin the cosmognic hymns \\'e find reciprocal gener-ation more than once introduced in the stages ofcreation. Thus Daksha is said to have sprung fromAditi , and Aditi from Daksha (X., 7'2 , 4 .)"

The line of the Mantra of Rig-Veda (X., 54, 3)to which he has referred has been translated asfollows by Griffith:-

"FoY- from thy body !hem hast generated at thesame time the Mother and the Father." In his noteon this mantra, Griffith explains Mother and FatherL tS "Earth and Heaven, parents of all." It does not.oppear what led Macdonell to introduce a 'His' fromhis own brain, for there is no corresponding wordin the original. Heaven and earth have been figur-atively called Father and Mother as Guru Nanak andmany other poets have done and the line in questionsimply means that Indra i. e . . , God created heavenand earth. As for the confusion in the meaning ofDaksha and Aditi, the reader is referred to thenote (10) under Section 10 of this volume.

As regards the giant which he has seen in thePurusha Sukta it may be said that it is nothing but


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62 J ,fE S S .A OE O F 'lBE VED .A .

In a passage, in his Sanskrit Liter~ture, whichfollows, he again fails to understand Hiranyagarbha,the true nature of which has been explained above.

SALVATION ACCORD ING TO THE VEDAS.A few words about this important subject and I"hall have done. The ideal of salvation or Iffukti

j" presented by the Vedas in many mantras and aref erence to the mantras given on this topicwill show that it is a state, a stage in spiritualprogress, rather than a place where we can getwhatever we desire to eat and drink and to gratifyother carnal desires And [his state, further on, isone of perfect happiness and perfect freedom andperfect powers. It is to be distinguished from the,Virl)lma of the Buddhists which is nothing si10rt of* 1. The following quotation [from Vishnu Purana, translatedby Muir in O. S. Texts, Vol 1., pp. 50, 51 throwsa flood oflight on the subject of creation and may be read "ithinterest.

2 At the end of the past (or Padma) Kalpa, arisingfrom his night-slumber, Brahma, the Lord, endowed predomi-nantly with the quality of goodness, beheld the universe void.3. He (was) the Supreme Lord Narayana, who cannot evenhe conceived by other beings, the deity without beginning, thesource of all things, existing in the form of Brahms. 6. ThisLord of creaturee, discovering by inference, - "hen the worldhad become one ocean,-that the earth lay within the waters,and being desirous to raise it up, assumed another body(aspect) * * * ,50. But he is merely the instrumental cause of the thingsto be created and of the creative operations. * * 51.Excepting an instrumental cause alone, nothing ollieis required,Every substance (vastu) is brought into the state of subltancf'(vaetuts] ,by its own inherent power.Vishnu Purna, I., . ~. ff.


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the total annihilation of the personality of thebeatified being. According to the Vedas those whattain salvation retain their powers in tact andmove where they list and do what they likeThe means prescribed in the Vedas, to attain tothis state of bliss are :-First, the purification of themind by virtuous actions, performed not for the sakeof reward or for fear but solely for the


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66 MESSAG.I!: OF THE VEO-AS

l{ f ~qm:~q~ ~P:r) ltr f~u7.Rt I~~filff iTtffi ~ t J T 'ij=qf ~~ ~~ _~ ~ffif II ' I l II

_ '! I " , ';fi C J t: -~I ~ I4. Glorify naught besides, 0 ! frijnfl \; so shall no sorrowtrouble you. Praise only mighty Indra when the Yojna :isperformed and keep Ol~ singing his' praise.> .': e- 1

R. VIlI., I,1.

f . { ~ e n m 'Ff~;n 3Trfr~ ~ r~n.A~~H q~$f'~~ I ~TrWf;r ~ fqqy _q ; if.:~ ~ r ~~ ~qT; :q~ II~~~:_~ __' II . ';fio ~ o J _ ~ ~ I ~'I

5. 'Mighty in mind and power is Vishva Karman, Maker.Disposer, apt} most lofty Pl'Sflence. t I I 'Their o~'l'illgs joy ill rich juice who value One. only One,beyond the Sevvn Hir.his. j IR. ' X . : 82, t.' - i r 'i:I.r c r i j T ~El~f ,~ l l f l I ,~gn l E IU l J f ij ~ ~ , ~ q ~ T f w l~~ r I ~ ~~r~ . , ; { rq~r t~ ,~3 f i :1 ! , ; r T j i ~'.ij+~:a~'~tr~iT~1M' . f~r II ~ II ~o ~ol t:~ I ~ I

6. Fat.her who made 1-s, W~}()IlS -Disposer knftWeth ;allraces and al~ things existillg.Even He alone, t,heJJeal'er of the -narnes of different godsIS the ideal whom other beings seek to approach.

, ,,; " ~I' l' R. X., 8~, 3.stanza, lndra is here identified ~Hhlarames~,~ra.,~h~, Su.pr~ptefirst cause, identical with creation - Wilsoll. In my opnuon,however, the Mantra describes the Shuluila Soarupa of God,i, C _ , as He is seen in His creation being as it Were t he proto-type of all that has name and shape. This is 'ffjS\ohlfSvarupaill which He can be S(>f n by weak mo-tals.

5. The seven Rishis -the constellation Ursa Major, theseven Stars. The meaning is, of course, ' the One who dwellseven beyond the starry Heaven. 'n. Th bearer of the names of other gods-see the next


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MESSAGE uF I'HE VEDAS 67

~Tfu~~~~~(f~T~~(f~ ~~~T: I~~ ~~ ij~~fR ~n 31ft{: ~j{Tt{fij: II \9 II~~o ~~ , ~ I

7: Even He is Agni, He is Aditya He is Vayu, He isChaudramas, He is Sukra, lIe is Brahma, He is Apa, He iiiPrajapati., , Yaj. XXXI!., 1.

Hltt4f tl~: ~: 'ig'l~ef: II ~ II~ 31h:r:ij~~: ~~~'l ~&l~q: " ~ II'l II", 3T~o ~~ li~ I ~,~ I8. He iii Aryamtlll, He is Varuna, He is Rudra," Meis Mahadeva.s, He is Agni, He is Surya, He verily ]


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M&88.&GE OP THI!! VED.&II

~~ ~ qr: ~ ~ ~ 1~'Q~4i 1 ( C f I~ ~'l'~~) ll~ 'I ~O-~\911

3 T ? T o ~ ~ I ' 1 1 I ~l-~~10, 17. Renown and glory. force and happiness. theBrahman's splendour and food and nourishment to him wl.oknoweth this God as One without a second. Neither secondnor third, nor yet fourth is He called. He is called neitherfifth, nor sixth, nor yet seventh, He is called neither ei",hth,nor ninth nor yet tenth,He watcheth over creatures, all that breatheth and brea-theth not. This conquering might is possessed by Him Hei.the sole, the simple one. the One alone. In Him all god..Mcome simple and Due. Ath. XIII., ., 16-t1.q~~ 4 i l R l ~ " f q~~lR~ ~lPRl i(1llOJ,~ ~ " f r i l l '; ~ I ~ ~~ ~ ~~r ~ ~~~.i"~~i i ( Iq ~ ~~~ ~ " ~t;-~o ll3 P . To ~ ~ I ' , $ . I ~~-O(\ l I

18, 10. Devotion and religious fervour, renown and 110fT ,force and heppiness, Brahman's splendour and food _itaaow-i.hmcDt, past and future, faith lind lustre and heaven... d earthlr prosperity to him who knoweth The Lord as ODewithout a seeend, Ath. XIII., j, Ill-I".

10. Nablul-Popula.rly cloud but mUst here mean.'ivarg4.

17. 1. Hi". all god., ek,,-All goda'a.re the manifNtatiOuof the Supreme Power,


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SECTION II.THE OM N IPRESENT LORD .

~ f - r t I l J A ~ s N r f;{ ~ ~ I~~~ qf(!~ II ~ II ~o ~ I ~ O ( I ~,,\1. Through all this world strode' Vishnu ; thrice Hi. footHe planted and the wholt Was gathel'ed in His fooW'teJ*'dljat.~ ;n ~ f S P t : f I~l fdt~.nw: Ifttft~ ~~"H'~: qfCj~1: II ~ II

~ . c: I .~~v tt. Come unto UI, 0 Indrs, dear, still eonquerin" WlCOll-

lleefable, yut a mountain spread on .11 sides.R, VUI., tI, .~ tO M ~R ~~ A q,r~~If.f nm~ I>;t

~~~W~~d~~~ ~ ~ 3R1"~nII ~ ". 5 1 \ 0 t o I ~~ I ~ I Thou pervadeth 0 Lord fflr through the Iphera of

light and realma of earth, Mod mid the regions. Thou whCRJl I I lY pralle.

R.I., ft, If.

1. Tlariee Bi. /0.' He pla.... --produced -this earth. tIwmidspace and the heavenly regions. A miaundentandin, (JIr figurat.ive understanding of this Mantra aeema to have beeuthe origin 0 ' the Psuranie myth of Vwbnu'. three ate.,. in \be.... of a dwarf.


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'1 0 MF,SSAGE OF THE VEDASLet those who often bring ' J hee to their solemn riteseonquer the noisy babblers who present no gifts. R. X. 32, :t.(~~fll4!~fu fffiT

ij R~ ~ 3lT+{t{: ~mtT~)3iffT III \l II~o ~0 I ~" ,? I ~ I

4. Thou, 0 God, art pre-eminent over all creatures inThy might; Thou hast pervaded every place.R. x., 1M, 5.~ ~ ( ~ ~ : 3 1 m r r S '1 ql: 'tit ~ mij:

3 M I : I ij~ ~: ij' : j [ f ~ 1 . J i j r O T :Mi~: II ~ II5. This very God ptl'vadeth all :the rigions ; Yea, existent

from the beginning He abides in the cen tr e of all. He hasbeen and will ever ber' .'l"acing..1l1JIilitt'ections He sta nds beforeyou,.O t men. ._- .,~ Yaj, XXXII., -'.

" H. ,. ~.I"

3. Noisy babblers- Unbelieving philosophers 'ren'iodelliilgthe 'World with words and making card-towers of Babel to1


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SECTION III.THE OM N ISCIENT.q~ ~, ~t, ~~q;:~~Jf ~ I~ ~r~: ~~o/q: I I ~ II SHo Z I ~~ I ~ I

1. He knows the- path of birds that fly through heaven,and m a s t e r or" the ,,~s, He knows ~the ships that arethereon. tI )- . :.' , , - R. 1., 25, 7.

~ ~ lJTm ..:lq~ H it [T~ ~ 3fjfJqij: I . I '.'~ ' . 1 " :j1:flfTtr~rII I ~ II 3 f \ 0 ~ ! ' ~ ~ I ~ It:!.::.. True t~ His holv law, He knows the twelve moonswith their pr()g~nfi' H$ _,plfno~s the . moo~ . of laterbirth, t : . . . . . 'R: L, 25, S.~~ ~Hl~ err i f~U~( '~ '~: I~." ~ ~\:(J'~; I I ~ -'" SHo ~ I ~"\ I ~

: .. i' t"R. He knows the 'pathway ~f tHe wind, the spreading.high and .mighty "wind; He knows -the gods who dwellahove. ' R. 1.,25,9.*Many of t.he \1antras givell here could be given in theprevious section as they describe God's Omnipresence all weD

fill His Omniscience.2. Twelve moons with their progeny-the months with thedays which are, so to say, their progeny.The m()lIn of later birth-the supplementary or the tsUmonth of the Luni-solar vein-Griffith.


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.".SAGa O}l'TIl.V.ED..

f . f ~ , ~ ~ : ~I~~~: II ~ " ~O ~ I ~~ ~O I'. God, true to holy law, sib! down amollg Hi. peopleHe, most wise, sits there to govern all.

R 1.,25, 10~ fe t ~ , ;o q 'K i j , f .q~t 3ffq~'lf6 If6rR qJ ~ r.r.~ I J ~ I I ~o ~ I ~ ~ I ~ Z I5. From thence perceiving He beholds all wondrousUtings, both what hath been and what hereafter will hedone.~ mn f~~ ~~r ~ ~ 1 W i f u

q W I : \ . - r f A m ~ " ~ I Ie. May He who sees all living things, sees thelntopther at a ilance,-may He, the protector be ourhelp.

R. I., ~5, 11.

g N ? ; ! ' 4 1 g M ' f i f f l ~ ~ ' " ~ "~I3 If 't!mT 1tft~'4i11It \9 II S f t ~ < = I ~ < = I ~ ,1. Great in Thy power and wi.dom, Mighty Lord, withthought that comprehend. every thing, Thou haat filled (the

.niyerse) full with majesty. R. VIII., 68, 2.~ .N~ f + l J q q ~ w ~ q ~ ~fu Iq W I : ~ ~ : " ~ " ~o ~ 0 I ~ ~\9 I V II. Who looks on all existing things and cotapre-hends them with His view, may He bear UI past our foes.

R. X.,18T, .

R. III., 6:t, 9.

-_~---- .. _-- _-_._- _-_-_._ ----'T . Filled the Universe-the Universe in its majestf tliul'_"deur simply discloses the majesty of Him w ho en~"ed it1rith majesty and grandeur.


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'M,ESSAOJt,Ol" ~B:&,VEDAS 71

' l r11Tr i f fir'i~.ij"4i"'~ qijmltf{_ I' lr it ,~n ; ,, 'S fl l ~ir~ m sm ~~~ I I ~ II'l~O ~ r , ~ ~ I9. We have approached the Omniscient. best finder-out

01 wealth for us. Splendour and strength, bestow upon us, 0 Il;od. Thou. 'Imperial Lord. Yaj. III., 88.

~; ~q: ~f~~ ';{ it~qr~){ro~ ~ 1 1 l ~ ~ I~ ' f f l~'Q:f ~fu~!l ~ f~,~:{~tU l lT~f t~~ J i~ 0 ": 3N ,o ~ I ~ ~ I ~ I

1'0. None, self-dependent .Lord I existeth wiser than Thouor sager by his wisdom. , Thou knowest well all these createdbeings: even the, man with extraordinary powers holds Theein awe. Ath. V, 11,6.i~Ngmr '~~q q~ "'l~If"'~ ~(;:ffi~ ~ ~ N~:II ~~ II

3N 'o ~ I ~. I ~I11. The 'mighty Ruler of these worlds beholds every

thing as if from close at hand. What the manthinks he does by stealth, all that God percei ves andknows.Ath. IV., 16, 1.

qf~!Rr ~1:f~tf~ q~R r ~ f~ ~ tf: ~ It 1 R.'l C 4." . . , . ~ i ju ~ r ~ q~QI~6) t f : II ~~ "I. ~ ; 3 1 \ 1 0 ~ ! ~ ~ I ~ I

It. Ifa man stand" or walks or moves in secret, goes tobed or wakes from sleep. what two men whisper as th,.v


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In..SAGE 01' THB vaDAII '7'1All this the Lord beholdeth, all between heaven,th and all beyond them. He haa counted eyen the'ngs of men's eyes. As one who plays, throws dice,

.ettles all things. Ath. IV., UI, II.3i~: ~ ~ w m ~ f;r qa~ I"~ ~~ ijcijC61~ ~~ ~ IR II ~~ II

3(0 ~~ t '1 I~~I16. Erect among the sleepers, He wakes, and never liesdown.to read' None has ever heard ,that He was asleep .bileothers' slept. Ath. XI.... H.


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SECTION IVTHE ALM IGHTY CR E A T OR

~ ~ ~;r 3f'f~ q~ ~ ~~ ~ q~l{~ ,~ @ ;" 'I 1 ~ ; : . 1~ ~ ~'JTP"~ ~;m:f ~: II ~ II

~'> ~ I ~~ I ~ I1. He the chief God 8f lofty spirit who has by HIs mightand power ever been the protector of righteous people before

whose "rea-th, thrdUgh Hi" awful might. the two worlds tremble,He. 0 men is God._ R. II, 12,1.'l: ' l P l c f f QQ 'q -q r i f T~ ;~~ : q ; f i j 1 ; ; s r , f m 3 ll ' lT n t_ IJ.it~ aj~ qq~Oqr ~ ~Pt~~ q l{'lr~~: II ~ II

' 3 R o ~ I ~~ I ~ I!. He who frxed firm the earth that "taggered and set atrelit the aritded mountains.Who measured out the air's wide [Riddle rerion and ,&Y"ethe heaven support. He, men, is God. R. II., 12, E.

~~~(~: ~ ~~~ fq~;qR~ N 00 I~ m ~~;r) it q(T (~ ~ ~~ ~(l ~~ itiiP{ II~II~. ~ I ~F t I~ I- ---~ -_---_. -----.-.2. TIaGt.ta,gered-It probably refers to the Uquid andsemlliqaid state of the earth in the beginning which eraduaUychanJed into the present solid state.q',f~ also means 'radiating heat.'


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAI 71S. Without whom naught exists, God, the supreme Lord;in whom alone all powers heroi e are combined; The Soma i.within Him. in His frame vast strenghth, the thunder in His

hand and wisdom in His head. R. II., 16, I.~ ~ f.rJq 'lI;r;rrfqgrR~ f~ ~ ;n ~ : I3 fT m~ m ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1 J l " " II ~ II

~o ~ I t~ I~I4 r . He who made all that exists, whu surpasses all inmight, who orders service to the great powers of nature andwork. among them. works iTIhero-strength, yea also in the

praise of men. R. III., u s , .~ W q1f~~nlrW :rrt{~ '~ J~1 ~ ~ T . J F . t I' $ { P i . u 3{;pt qrq~ ~ ~~ ~ M l q r ~ ~ II ~ II~o ~ I ~~I~I

5. Ihave bestowed the earth upon the Arya and rainupon the man who bring. oblation. Iguided forth the loudly-roaring waters and moved the powers of nature accordinr tomy pleasure. .R. IV., to, t.

~fiIf~~~n.'...~tmm~~ II~II~o 'll ~~I~IG; Even with the weak, 0 Lord, a'hou smitelt do.n himwho il. Itro~ger. with Thy mighty power. R. IV., Si, 8.4 0 . The Jenle seems to .be that all nrtuoul inlpirati.noomea from God.5~ ~'fi" -from ~ i. e . , Lord mea~. the Lord'.(leI'Tants).. .Bring' ~blatiota-the effic.cy of .acriftce in brinrilll rata~. hinted at.: . .


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78 MESSAGE 0 .. THE VEDAS

q ~ R~' (iI'ijl~l~rep.frn ~;: r I~ :q' ~rn ~r II ~ II S R I ' ) ~ I ~~ I Q . ,7. He who gives glory unto all these living creatureswith the song, and brings them forth is Savitar (the gloriousOne). R. V. 82, 9.if~ oq~aj ~ _~ ij ~ afW .nijI~ ~ t f f l o l l ~f\l f~ ~~ij~~~~~ll~ II ~ II

~0~ I~'-\I ~I8. God has extended sphce above the forests, He hasput vigorous speed in horses and milk in kine, set intellect inhearts, electricity in water, sun in heaven and Soma on themountain. R. V., 85. t.~ f e J tU f6rrt~ ~~Q~~: ~~ IU~ ~~ ~~"tw tf ~ ~ ~;:~;H(fff~~ II ~ II~o ~ I ~o t ~ I

9. Thou 0 Lord break est up the flood and portal. on allsides and the firmness of the mountain.Thou art the King of men, of all that liveth, engenderingat once Heaven, down, and the Sun. R. VI., 10, 5.

U~ ~IJ"~T ~~.~ t ! T : IR m ~ ~ ~;:rlt :q' ~sq~ ~~aM~: II ~0 II~o ~ I ~~I ~I

10. Alone art Thou, Lord of all wealth and riches: ThOllin Thine hand has held the people. Me-nhave invoked ,Thee_~"_"#--"_ ................ r...,.....,~~.~" ...~_-.~,~_ ....._~~,-_",._#",._...,.._~, 7. He who Rive. glory-"Be who by hi. creative powerproduces the objects of the song of praise." Ludwig. .

8., ~ explained by Sayana as ..,~~=tree-tops.Soma-supposed to grow in the eleft. of rocks.


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ME, SAGE OF THE VEDAS 79with uplifted voices for off., pring and progeny, and rains andsunlight. R. VI., 81, i.i j ~ r e : ~ ~w . r ~"ql~~ sr r~~~q " T O O ~ : I.~:qfr~f~~nlfi:f~llf~~~~f~~ifT1lp.:rtq~ II~~II

~o ~ I ~'-\'"\I ~ I11. We laud this mighty power of Him the Mighty One,preserver, benevolent, bounteous and benign, He who strode

widely pacing with three ste ppings forth over the realms ofearth, for freedom and for life. R. I., 155, 4 -~ S ;::~ ~ U t ~~imsf~'.Wf ' l ~ q T ~{Qqfu I~ij'PlllB-l~U ~~~fijt~~~ q w . : r ; : i j : q ~ R l I J 1 : II Z - II

~o ~ I ~'"\'-\~\I12. A mortal, when he beholds two steps of Him whclooks upon the light, is struck with amazement. His thirrstep, however, no one ventures to approach, not even tb.leathered birds of air that fly with wings. R. I. 155, t11 and 12. Three steppings-refers to the three aspects iiwhich God can be viewed, first Virat -i.e., God as seen i :

physical creation. -Secondly, H iranayagarbha-i.e., God aseen in finer creation and, thirdly, lswara i.e., God as seen i"Maya, ie., the material cause of tho Universe. Godin tilthird aspect is not easy to realize.. , -The mantra shows the Omnipresence of God and the dinculty and importance of realizing Him as the Primary cauiof the Universe.Struck with amazement, i,e., at the wonderful work of Gcas seen in the physical and phychical worlds.Not even the feathered birds-showing the difficulty of COl:prehending the real nature of God in His third aspect.


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10 MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS; { ~ f ~ a T r mqqr;lt ~ j { f r l l ~q ll'rm: q~q ..i14ilq I~~+.U ijl~'l..q ~ ~~ m~~~'lfqotrr:, II~~II5f\o \ 9 1 f < . ~ I ~ I

18. None who is born or being born, 0 Lord! hath reachedthe. ut nost limit of Thy greatness, T:t(Hl hast supported thevast-extended lofty vault of heaven and fixed earth's easternpinnacle securely. R. VII., 99, 2.

~ n lfiJ - u ~ m q~~~q ~~: B : 1 m - ; : r ~ I~~ ( ftm WI;nfo:t ~l ~;:~;1~ ~: II ~~ n5f\o < = 1 ~ I ~ ~ I

U. With might has God spread out heaven and earth. ByHi.power hath the sun been lighted up. In Him are containedall the creat'!:lrea and in Him the purified Somas., R. VIII, 8, Ii.

~1Jf {rq.u'~ {a;~ i f~ r fwI :q IW t l ( lfU i if ~ II ~~ I I ~O < = I ~ c a I ~ I, Il5. The luminous- realms of heaven were firmly fixedill their places by God whence they cannot be removed.R. VIII., 14, 9.

~~ ~ ~ ~ijri.~~~:,W f ~ ctf'ii~ a i ~ ~ if ~.~ U~) II ~q I t

~o ~ I ~o I ~ I13. Eastern side is JIlel1ltilned as being the most importantside of the earth, the sun ri.Sing f r O l I J l . this, direction.~5. P'''!'J'Y(ixed, should not 'be taken to mean 'made themstationary. The mantra means to say that God assignedeach heavenly bcdy jts position, whether of rest or m~tion..


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88AO OF THE VEDA8 &116. 0 Lord, both the worlds, nay. a hundred heavens anda hundred earths of Thine, no, not a thousand suns can

match Thee, where thou shinest forth in Thy glory.R. VIII., 70. 5.~~m~ ~ ~{I~: If . r r t f ~ f . f~~ lid 3 T f u II ~~ II ~o

~o

might, the consecrator of others but II imself consecrated b~'none. R. VIII., 8, fl9, x,~r? t rt q~ f ~P l ~ rtlJ.~tT~5q ij~~ ~~r t I~nr.=qT tr{..jt tTl~ijl ~ ~ it \~q: ~~ f t~r~ II

" ~~ II ~o ~0 I ~~ I ~ I19. I am the Lord, none ever wins my wealth from me.I am not a thrall to death at any time. Pressing t IH' Soma,

ask riches from me alone: Ye, men, in my friendship shallnot suffer harm. R. X. 48, 5.

17. All-god-God of all or combining all sorts of powersin His person.

JH. ~~mur.&c.-a"anger of things narranged-Griffith.19. PressingtheSoma :-i.e., offering the sacrifice.


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~~~~~~~~ff l t~ fer~ijfl:i~Q fcr~~~f~ Iq ifrp q f ~~ i j - q~m; r r i 1 t f 1 f O W ' l ~ ~ ~tli: I I 0 ( 0 I I~o ~0 I ~~ I ~ I20. He who hath eyes on all sides, mouths on all sides,arms and feet on all sides, He the sole God, producing earthand heaven, weldeth them together with his arms as wings.

RX, 1:11.3,!~1f ~~ ~~ ~~~~ '1'ij ~ I~~~~~f;{T ~~~;uf~ II 0 ( ~ "

~o ~o I ~o I ~ I21. This Purusha (Being) is (in) all that yet hath beenand all that is to be ; the Lord of immortality, transcending1 ' 1 1 1 that grows by food. H. X. no, 2.

~tJf;I~ ~f(",sffl ~qp.r i~ 1{~q: Iq{~~ R~ 4FlTfi l m~~~ A A II ~~ II

\

~o ~ 0 I (1.0 I ~ I20. Cf. !q I~ron ~ ~.m ~~T~ij_ (R. X" 7~. 2).These the Creator produced with blast uud smelting likeSmith. Also CfRig. IV., 2, 17.21. This translation is Ludwig's. Thc Bhagwata Purana,quoted by Griffith, paraphrases the last dame as "since Hehath transcended mortal nutriment." The pantheistic inter-

pretation is ' Ruling over immortality. He Was all that growshy food.' That proU ' I by food, of course, meaning all livin~creatures.


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDAS sa22. So mighty is His greatness; yea, greater than this isPurusha. All creatures are one-fourth of Him. Three fourths

(of Him. forming) eternal life (subsist) in His luminous absoluteSelf. R. X. 90, 3.

S H o ~ 0 I ~0 I ~ I23. With three-fourths Purusha went up; one-fourth ofHim was then here, thence He strode out in every direction(to rule) over what eats and what eats not, i.e., both animateand inanimate Creation. R. X., 90, 4.~(ff~i ~P : ro~T~~U~ r . t W itJT~ i . J II ~ '1 u

S H o ~ 0 I ~ 0 I ~ I2~. He formed the creatures of the air and animals bothwild and tame. H. X. 90, R.22. The mantra shows the incomprehensible greatness ofGod. All His power is not manifested in the universe vast, asit is. He is amrita, that is, eternal life and is almost wholly

hidden from mor tal view, man having but a glimpse of divi nknowledge.

23. God is viewed by the Rishis as Shudha (Impersonal)and Shabala (spot t cd, ie., Personal). It is only in the 2ndaspect that He can be known by mortals. And as whatman knows of God is not much, it can be said that three-four t hs of Him are in heaven, i.e., to transcendental te beknow n. Cf ~ f u ' it i1~T ~~ ~ ~ ~ cq 0 : { s r R r I i.c., theheavens and earth 'themselves have not grown equal to one-hlf of me. Also A A it ~: ~ s - n '6fr~'f""~ t.e., oneof my Hanks is in the sky, I left tha other traiJ below.


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86 KII:SSAGE OF THE VEDA!I

i1~~ffi~k~!(f~:q: m m f . : { ~ If . ~ i f~~ s r 1 : ~~q'Q~~~~rlij II ~'"' II25. From that great (the Supreme Being) the Rig. theSama, the Atharva and the Yajur -Vedas were produced.

R. X. 90, Jt.;fJ~~ ~"'~?: l~: ~: I~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ ~ :${ lITqij II ~~ II

S H o ~ 0 I ~ 0 I ~ ~ I26. The Brahmana was His mouth, of both His arms was

the Kshatri made. His thighs became the Vaisya, from Hisfeet the Sudra was born. H. X. 90, "2.~ ~ ~ mllij~ ait: ~ ~ 3TlJTqij I" , r ( ~ ~ T f t r ~$lrUnWlflflq~ II ~~ "

;p;o ~ 0 I (I, f) I ~~I!7. The moon WAS engendered from His mind and thegun waS produced from His eye. Indra (electricity) and Agni(fire) sprang from His mouth and Vayu (wind) came forth fromHis breath. R. X., 90. 13.26. These natural divisions of mankind. making oneprefect bodypolitle, occupy in society the position which the

mouth, arms. thighs and the feet respectively have ia thehuman frame, See Introduction for 26, 27, 28. .


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MESSAGE OF THE VEDA.S R5

;U+~r 3TT~l~~f~ ~ ' t o r r~T:~J{~(I Iq~ ~~~: ~~lT ~ ; r . '3N.(;q~ II " ? ~ 'I: : i R " ~O I Q . , o I ~\ll28. Forth forth His navel came mid-air; the sky was faa-hioned from His head, Earth from his feet, and from Irlfl

car the reg-ions. Thus were the worlds formed. R, X., 90, U

(t(utJmt: ~q~mi t ~ ? ~ 1 . f:l{((I: OO~ 311~~ Iq ~Nf( ~ ~~i ~ ~p.J ~T ~ II ~~ II~o ~ C J I ~~~I ~)

29. What God shall we adore with our oblation?Hiranyagarhha, the repository of light, existiOCfrom the beginning, ever since the unrivalled Lord ofall created beings. He steadied and holdeth up this earth andheaven. R. X., 121, 1.1 . f 3fI~ t~1 ~ ~~ f ? J ' Q " ;aqJmt ~m~~~: I~ : ; s r ~ f l l d ~q I l~: ~~q~ 8 : f c m F r ~ q

II ~o II ( If80. What God shall we adore with our oblation' (Him)who is the giver of life, the giver of strength and power, whosecommandments all the powers acknowledge, the Lord of death,whose shade is life immortal. R, X., 121,2.

'l:- ~ f;Jfuq~ ~ ~ ~ ~ , lttT~ tJ~ I'l~~ ftll~~tq~: ~ ~ ~ m r m q

II~~II~II30. SAade-protection.


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8~ MESSAGE OF THJ


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MESSAGE OF THE VEQ.a..a 87

1 { r ; { t ftm~ ~: ' l N o q r ~ q r ~ ~ ~ " T ~ I~~~;~t il~ ij1~ liT~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (fil'fl f t N ' l ' II ~'-\ ,II~ I '35. May He never harm us who is earth's Begetter, theheavens' Creator, whose laws are sure and who brought forthgreat and lucid waters.

What God shall we adore with our oblation? u, X., IU, 9.5 l~ W RC T~~ F r l l . ! l T ~mrrfi{ qft ijf ~~q I~ atilm~ ~ ~ ~ ) 3T~ : : r : i ~ ~ ~ ~ l Q n l { _

1I~~lIton86. Lord of Hosts! Thou alone compreheudest all

sorts of created beings. Grant us our heart's desire when weinvokeThee. May we be the lords of treasures?

R. X., 121, 10.3 li ~~fll~W~~~(IfT~~~ij f t t~~: I~t~~l~umn W~f ' l~T ~l1f~lm II ~~ II5 f t o ~ 0 I ~~"" I ~ I

37. I travel with the Hudras and the Vas us, I accom-pltuy Adityas and all gods. I sustain Mitra and Varuns,Indra, Agni and the pair of Alvins. R. X., 185, 1.3 T t m ' 1 ' l 1 T ~ f.:J~( ~mUFf \ t t U T ~ I3 T t a : ~ f ~ ~fqoTg:f~~l1ijj m o i t tJ lI"ri{ l~ ~ II~~II~ II

37. lludra6, Va,,", eic., denoting various powers ofNature. The Mantra means IIsav that all these powers aresustained by God'NAW A.B ! = r , LA," ;UNGG"Hf~UuR


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MESSAGE OF ' fnt


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MIl8I9AGE OF THl!: VEDAS 89

3 J ~ ; ~ fq~~ '{~~ ~f .w:~~ : qlli j f f i ' R ~ ~ ~ f~sQt~ qf ' 4 q { o f \ q ~ ' l 4 l I f "II \J~ II \9 II

42. On the world's summit I bring forth the sky: myhome is also in the waters, in the ocean. Thence 1 extendover all existing creatures and touch the yonder heaven withmy forehead. R. X., 125, 73 l~ i tCf C f T i j ~ ~ qr~1.fH :~rO fr ~ R~r Il R T f u : ; ; r r q~ ~;n 'lf~ijr~ffl ~;n ij~if4{~ II 'd ~ II < = II

43. Holding together all existence, I breathe a strongbreath like the tempest.Beyond this wide earth and beyond the heavens, 1 have

become so mighty in my grandeur. R. X" 128. 8.3F~ r(~SliJJ[~m ~ ~~!jf f i j ' C f I~~w(J)fij~~+~:I 'd'd II ~ 0 ~0 I ~-\~ I 'd l

44. 0, Lord of Light. Thou hast made the sun, eternalstar to mount the sky bestowing light on living men.R. X. 156.4.3l1~ ~ ~ f f l ' m 1 t m ~'f: ~ij ~q~~Q~ I~ ~ ~ ~ e { q r ~ ~ ~ II 'dt.\ II ~o ~0 I ~'-\~ I '-\ I

45. Thou, effulgent Lord, art the' people's light, best.dearest, scnt.ed in Thy sanctuary. Watch for the singer, givehim life. R. X., 156, 5.

42. TIllS mantra shows God's greatness as well asomnipresence.43. Breathe a strong breath-inspire creatures with life.C f~ ~CfSlCfTf;J-also 'I flow like the wind; i.e., pervade all

creation.


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~ m ~ 3 l ~ 1 i t~;f ~ 3 T J ~ : f C R t u ii~ql: I~~~qfu ~'lT~ ~~ lfumij ij ~lf W {~ ~ ~ u n f i rII ~~ 113140 c ; I ~ I ~~ I46. First before all existed God; gods, fath

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GC Narang - Message of the Vedas