Rig Veda

Text & Audio

MAṆḌALA 1

Sūkta 75

2. Audio

▪   by South Indian brahmins
▪   by Sri Shyama Sundara Sharma and Sri Satya Krishna Bhatta. Recorded by © 2012 Sriranga Digital Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

1. Circa 1915–17¹

1. O Flame, what I am expressing is very wide and vast, an object of enjoyment for the gods; devour it with love; take all these offerings in thy mouth.

2. O Divine Energy! thou are the most powerful of all the powers and the highest divinity, may the sacred hymn of my heart which I am uttering become thy favourite, and thou the triumphant enjoyer of what I desire.

3. O Divine Energy! O Flame! who is thy comrade, who is thy brother in the world? Who is able to extend that friendship which leads to the Divine? Who art Thou? In whose heart has Agni found shelter?

4. O Agni, thou indeed art brother of all living beings, beloved friend of the world; thou indeed art the comrade, thou art desired by thy comrades.

5. Sacrifice for us to Mitra and Varuna, sacrifice to the gods, to the vast Truth; O Agni, that Truth is thy own home. Establish the sacrifice in that goal.

2. February 1915²

1.75.5. Sacrifice for us to Mitra and Varuna, sacrifice to the gods, to the Truth, the Vast; O Agni, sacrifice to thy own home.

[Notes]

1.75.5. Here ṛtam bṛhat and svaṁ damam seem to express the goal of the sacrifice and this is perfectly in consonance with the imagery of the Veda which frequently describes the sacrifice as travelling towards the gods and man himself as a traveller moving towards the truth, the light or the felicity. It is evident, therefore, that the Truth, the Vast and Agni’s own home are identical. Agni and other gods are frequently spoken of as being born in the truth, dwelling in the wide or vast. The sense, then, will be in our passage that Agni the divine will and power in man increases in the truth-consciousness, its proper sphere, where false limitations are broken down, urāv anibādhe, in the wide and the limitless.

3. Circa 1915³

1.75.1 वचः = expression in psychological sense जुषस्व सप्रथस्तमं वचो देवप्सरस्तमं

प्सरः = enjoyment in psychological sense.

1.75.2 अंगिरस्तम. Angiras as epithet.

4. 1913 – early 1914⁴

1.75.1 सप्रथस्तमं. S. अतिशयेन विस्तीर्णं स्तोत्रलक्षणमस्मदीयं वचनं. But what is meant by a very wide or extended word? A long hymn? but the hymn is one of the briefest. It is clear that वचः is something more than mere speech; it is the word and all its contents, the thing expressed, an expression of a new state of wideness, प्रथस् , in the being of the god-seeker. It is because it carries this wideness. Therefore it is देवप्सरस्तमं, a great enjoyment for the gods, the children of the Infinite whose home is in the vastness. It is the wideness of the seeker’s being growing towards this vastness that is the cause of their enjoyment and not the hymn itself as mere speech or praise.

प्सरः. Sayana’s attribution of this noun to the root स्पृ is bad philology. There is no reason why the easier sound स्प should corrupt into the more difficult sound प्स. We should rather suppose an old root प्सृ. The initial प्स sound must have been common enough in the original Aryan tongue, since it figures so largely in Greek, but it has left few traces in Sanscrit. We have besides प्सरः, प्सु form, प्सुर lovely, beautiful, having a form, which points to a root प्सु, and प्सा to eat with its derivatives. Possibly all these three roots had a similar sense to encompass, contain (whence form), embrace, enjoy and then प्सा to eat; cf अश् which means to pervade, to enjoy and to eat.

1.75.2 अङ्गिरस्तम. S. अतिशयेनांगनादिगुणयुक्त — यद्वा अङ्गिरसां वरिष्ठ. Obviously “O most Angiras” cannot mean merely the best of the Angirases, it must mean one who has most the qualities of the Angiras. We know what those qualities are, among them is the possession of the word of power and light, ब्रह्म सानसि, the word of the seven-mouthed Angiras Brihaspati which wins the Sun, the Dawn, the Herds etc, सूर्यं सनत् , therefore ब्रह्म सानसि.

वेधस्तम. S. वेधा इति मेधाविनाम. वेधाः does not mean मेधावी but विधाता and especially the disposer, right ordainer (विध् , विंध्) of the sacrifice and its parts, prominently the hymn स्तोम. Cf 1.7.7, न विंधे अस्य सुष्टुतिं, I cannot succeed in arranging (composing, putting in right order of speech and thought, cf in Bengali the use of रचना for style) his perfect affirmation. The epithets are not chosen at random; because Agni is the most Angiras, has most power of seer-will for the word that conquers the desired luminous wealth, because being the most Vedha (also a characteristic of the Angirases), that is most skilful by his right knowledge and right force to order rightly the hymn in relation to the stages of the sacrifice, therefore he can help the Rishis to speak the ब्रह्म सानसि.

प्रियं refers us back to the idea in देवप्सरस्तमं; it means pleasing प्रीतिकरं, that which brings with it the satisfaction of the soul, — here, because of its right expression of that which the soul (ब्रह्म) seeks to express.

सानसि. S. संभजनीयं and he gives वन षण संभक्तौ; but सन् also means to win, possess and only secondarily to enjoy. As we have ब्रह्म सानसि in conjunction with the epithet अङ्गिरस्तम it can only mean the brahma that conquers, wins and takes possession of the wealth as did the hymn of the Angirases in connection with whose achievement the word सन् is continually used.

अथा ते. S. तुभयं. I think it is here rather तव, otherwise there is no sense in अथ = अनंतरं. In the first verse Agni is invited to cleave with love, जुषस्व = सप्रीत्या सेवस्व, to the word; and now the Rishi says “then may we speak the satisfying, conquering soul-word that is thine”. It is only after Agni has embraced the वचः and made it his that it becomes not only सप्रथस्तमं & therefore देवप्सरस्तमं but also सानसि; therefore अथ. The word is frequently spoken as being the gods’, especially in connection with Agni and Indra.

Sayana’s rendering.

O best of the Angirases, O very intelligent one, then may we speak to thee a pleasing and enjoyable hymn.

Psychological rendering.

Then, O most puissant in the seer-will, O most skilful Ordainer, O Flame, may we speak a soul-thought that is thine, that satisfies, that conquers.

1.75.3 जामिः. Who is thy companion? That is to say, thou art alone and transcendent, अद्भुतः; what creature born (जनः) can boast of being a necessary twin of thy being? जामिः is more than बंधुः (S.), it gives the idea of constant companion and closeness in kinship or in being, eg जामिः सिंधूनां भ्रातेव स्वस्रां. 1.65.4.⁵

दाश्वध्वरः. S. दत्तो यज्ञो येन .. कर्मण्युण्प्रत्ययः. I am sceptical of this passive sense for दाशु. S. thinks the phrase means that there is no one capable even of sacrifice to Agni, “Who is there that has given thee sacrifice?”; but surely this is to read more sense into the word than it will bear. Anyhow, the Rishis constantly giving sacrifice to Agni would hardly say “Who is there that has ever given thee sacrifice?”, they would use some phrase which would at least hint the idea of unfitness. दाशु means naturally giver or fit to give, and we may take दाश्वध्वरः as an inverted compound = अध्वरदाशु, and the question asked is “Who is really able to give sacrifice that will reach the gods, being thy जामिः, companion and equal in being? It is really thou that speakest the word and doest the sacrifice, thou art the only वेधाः and होता and without thee man’s hymn and offering have no force or power.” Otherwise it is the a अध्वर that is दाशु, and the question is “Whose sacrifice is able to reach the gods and give them the offering? Only Agni is able to carry the offering to the gods and lead the sacrifice to the goal.” None else is his जामिः and therefore none else has the same power.

को ह. S. कथंभूतस्त्वं ie all cannot know what you are like. This is both fanciful and feeble. को हासि means who thou art, ie what wonderful and transcendent being, अद्भुत. Agni is not this nor that person, not one of the जनानां, but the Deva himself, eternal and supreme.

कस्मिन् . S. कस्मिन्स्थाने. No one knows thy abode; but if Agni is the physical flame everyone knows his abode, the वन, अरणि, अप्सु etc. कस्मिन् must mean either in what object or in what person; there is nothing to indicate place. “In whom art thou lodged?” None can contain and bind to him Agni, because he is the transcendent and infinite in whom are all the gods and all the worlds.

Sayana’s rendering.

Who among men is thy (fit) friend? Who is there that has given the sacrifice? What art thou (in thy nature)? In what place art thou lodged?

Psychological rendering.

Who of creatures born can companion thee? O Flame, who can give sacrifice? Who art thou? In whom is thy abode?

1.75.4 जामिः. Thou, being beyond all, unborn and transcendent, yet makest thyself the companion of all these human creatures, stooping to their humanity, अमृतो मर्त्येषु.

मित्रो .. प्रियः. S. प्रीणयिता यजमानानां प्रमीतेस्त्रायकोऽसि. This explanation of मित्र is extravagant philology and poor sense. मि is to embrace, enjoy, love (also to contain, put together, form) and त्र here expresses the agent of the action; it means therefore friend or else giver of delight; Agni is the divine Friend and Lover, God as Mitra, प्रियतमो नृणां; therefore प्रियः, dear especially because of the satisfying principle of harmony he brings into thought, feeling, act and state. He is not only जामिः but मित्रः, a dearer word of love, since the first only expresses closeness in being, companionship in life and action, the other the embrace of love and the companionship of the heart. The answer here is to को ह & को दाश्वध्वरः. This Infinite is He who comes to man as his friend and lover and sets and helps him on his path, for Mitra जनान्यातयति, sets them moving पथिभिः साधिष्ठैः, by the most effective paths of the Truth which accomplish perfectly the sacrifice, अध्वर, and carry it and the sacrificer to their divine goal.

सखा. Although not lodged in any as his abode, yet is this infinite deity a comrade to be sought by adoration by men, his comrades, मनुष्वत् , humanly and in a human relation.

Sayana’s rendering.

O Agni thou art the friend of all men, thou art the deliverer from harm and satisfier (of the sacrificers), and a friend to the sacrificing priests who is worthy of praise.

Psychological rendering.

Thou art the companion of all beings; O Flame, thou art the beloved Friend, a comrade to be sought with adoration by comrades.

1.75.5 मित्रावरुणा. Varuna because he gives the प्रथः, the wideness, Mitra because he is the प्रिय who by his harmonising principle of light and love gives the प्सरः. The last line goes back in thought to the first; it prays for the divine fulfilment through Agni of that which has been expressed by the aspiring thought of humanity, of the सप्रथस्तमं देवप्सरस्तमं वचः.

देवाँ. All the gods, constituting the whole Divine Birth, the ऋतं बृहत् .

ऋतं बृहत् . The vast Truth. This is either in a sort of apposition to देवाँ, “sacrifice to (all) the gods, to the vast Truth” which is the being of the infinite Godhead; or else there is a double accusative of the person and the object: “win for us from the gods by sacrifice the vast Truth”. Sayana takes ऋतं = true, and explains it as सत्यं यथार्थफलं यज्ञं, which is unnatural enough, as no one would say “sacrifice for us the true” when he means “sacrifice for us a sacrifice”, — ritam may mean sacrifice, or it may mean truth; but it cannot mean “true” in the sense of “a sacrifice”, — but astonishingly enough he does not take ऋतं बृहत् = “a great sacrifice”, as he does elsewhere, but separates the neuter बृहत् from the neuter ऋतं to which it belongs by grammar, by verse-movement and by syntactical form & structure, — for यज .. यज .. यक्षि each naturally introduces its own clause, — and attaches it to the masculine दमं to which it has no conceivable right to belong. This is one of those purposeless and awkwardly floundering ingenuities hostile to grammar & syntax, to the evidence of parallel passages, to all literary sense and to poetic fitness, in which Sayana’s commentary abounds.

यक्षि. S. makes यक्षि = यज सङ्गच्छस्व. He thinks that it means पूजय, “worship thy own big house”, but it is only when Agni is within it that the sacrificial house becomes worshipable, त्वय्यंतर्विद्यमाने सति हि यज्ञगृहं पूज्यते, therefore to ask Agni to worship his own house amounts to asking him to get into it! Comment on such an absurdity is hardly needed.

स्वं दमं. The ऋतं बृहत् in the form of the world called स्वः, उ लोकः, उरु लोकः is the own home of Agni and all the gods.

Sayana’s rendering.

Worship for us Mitra and Varuna, worship the gods, sacrifice a true (fruitful sacrifice), worship (ie enter) thy own big house.

Psychological rendering.

For us sacrifice to Varuna and Mitra, win for us by sacrifice from the gods the vast Truth; O Flame, win for us by sacrifice thine own home.

¹ The Rigveda [: In Bengali] // Sri Aurobindo. Bengali Writings: [Translated from Bengali into English] / Published by Madanlal Himatsingka. Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust.– Pondicherry: All India Press, 1991, pp. 42-54.

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² The Secret of the Veda. VI. Agni and the Truth // CWSA.– Vol. 15.– The Secret of the Veda.– Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1998, pp. 58-69. 1-st published: Arya: A Philosophical Review. Monthly.– Vol.1, No 7 – February 1915, pp. 403-414.

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³ CWSA.– Vol. 14.– Vedic and Philological Studies.– Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2016, pp. 455-456. (Part 4 № 5).

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⁴ CWSA.– Vol. 16.– Hymns to the Mystic Fire.– Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2013, pp. 559-582. (Part 3 № 14). 1-st published: Sri Aurobindo: Archives & Research: a biannual journal.– Volume 5, No1 (1981, April), pp. 3-8.; Sri Aurobindo: Archives & Research: a biannual journal.– Volume 2, No2 (1978, December), pp. 125-147.

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⁵ Number of the Rik is incorrect. It must be 1.65.7.– Translator into Russian.

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